Non-Medical Evidence in Back Pain Cases

May 30th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

People can get caught up in the medical evidence part of a disability case and forget that there are other important factors the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) looks at when deciding whether to award benefits. Besides your medical history, the SSA will look at your credibility and the consistency of your complaints when evaluating your disability case.

It is important that the SSA sees you as a credible person when you have a disability case. In determining whether you are credible, the SSA decision makers will look at several things. They will look at your behavior in seeking relief for your symptoms. They will also look at the frequency and nature of your doctor visits and your response to treatment. They will also see if you have any activities that are limited by your pain. Do not be surprised if they review your medical records to see if your treating doctors have said anything about your credibility.

When they review the consistency of your complaints, they will take the long view and see if they are consistent over a period of time. They will review your medical records to see if you are consistent in what you tell your treating doctors. It will stand out if you tell one doctor one thing and another doctor something different. This sort of thing does not look good and will require an explanation. An example of a valid explanation is that your symptoms have changed over time.

One of the other areas that your disability attorney can help to flesh out in your case is whether you have any psychological distress due to your back pain. Often, applicants develop psychological distress because of chronic back pain and this can cause a lot of complications. It can cause a person to avoid exercise, physical activity and other activities that could actually help them. Your disability attorney should look for medical evidence of any psychological distress that has affected your disability and your level of pain.

For more information about Social Security disability claims, I invite you to read through the rest of this website and to order a FREE copy of my book, Unofficial Guide to Social Security Disability Claims. If you need help with your disability claim, contact my office today at 800-218-7062.

Categories : Back Pain, Social Security Disability, SSA evaluation process
Comments (1)

How Back Pain Social Security Disability Cases are Evaluated

May 27th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

Social Security disability applicants name low back pain as the cause of their disability more than any other injury or problem. Unfortunately, back pain is a difficult problem to evaluate and the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) tends to be extra careful in evaluating whether an applicant’s back pain is real and actually disabling.

The Social Security Administration takes three things into consideration when determining the severity of your impairment if you have a back injury. The SSA will look at your objective abnormalities, your reported pain and other symptoms and your credibility. As the SSA evaluates these three things, they will look at objective medical evidence to assess whether you are disabled. This includes x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) and other studies. SSA will also review your doctor’s reports to see if your range of motion is limited in any way.  Read more…

Categories : Back Pain, Social Security Disability, SSA evaluation process
Comments (0)

Back Pain and Medical Imaging Results in Social Security disability Claims

May 23rd, 2013 by Sharon Christie

One of the most common problems people have is back pain so it is not surprising that Social Security claimants seek disability benefits because of back pain more often than any other injury or condition. Unfortunately, obtaining benefits in back pain cases can often be quite challenging. That is why it is important to find an experienced disability attorney to help with your back pain claim.

The most problematic part of back pain cases is the objective medical evidence. Many claimants suffer from a variety of painful symptoms such as muscle spasms or have difficulty sitting, standing, bending or lifting but still are unable to obtain benefits because their medical evidence is not strong enough. Unfortunately, even when people suffer from symptoms such as these, their medical imaging test results may not show serious enough abnormalities. Read more…

Categories : Back Pain, Social Security Disability, SSA evaluation process
Comments (0)

Social Security Disability and Arthritis

May 19th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

I am often asked whether having a certain medical condition qualifies a person for Social Security disability benefits. My answer is always the same: It depends on how that condition affects you. The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) has very specific rules regarding this, so it is important that you work with an experienced disability lawyer to determine if you might be eligible for benefits.

According to SSA regulations, if you have arthritis or joint dysfunction and cannot “ambulate effectively” you may be considered disabled under the musculoskeletal listings. The phrase “ambulate effectively” is a legal term that is specifically defined under SSA regulations. It means that you have an extreme limitation in your ability to walk. A little difficulty walking is not enough to prevent you from ambulating effectively. You must have an impairment that seriously interferes with your ability to independently initiate, sustain, or complete activities.

SSA regulations define “ambulate effectively” as being capable of sustaining a reasonable walking pace over a sufficient distance to be able to carry out activities of daily living and having the ability to travel without companion assistance to and from a place of employment or school. People who can “ambulate effectively” can walk without the use of a cane, walker or other hand-held assistive device.

If you fall into any of the following categories, you may not be able to ambulate effectively:  Read more…

Categories : Arthritis, Social Security Disability
Comments (0)

Exceptions to Social Security’s Sequential Evaluation Process

May 15th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

While the vast majority of Social Security disability claimants will try to qualify under the normal Five-Step Sequential Evaluation Process, there are three exceptions that allow people who meet very specific criteria to also qualify as disabled and receive benefits. If you fit one of these three special medical-vocational profiles, your case may be evaluated outside of the Sequential Evaluation process.

Profile #1:  Read more…

Categories : Social Security Disability, SSA evaluation process
Comments (0)

Your Testimony About Pain Can Help You Win Your Social Security Disability Case

May 9th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

Your ability to provide a persuasive description of your symptoms will play a decisive role in determining the outcome of your Social Security disability case. In particular, it is important that you describe in detail the pain you are suffering. Here are some things to consider:

Description of the Pain:

  • What is the nature of your pain? Where do you feel it?
  • What incident led to this pain?
  • How long have you felt the pain?
  • Did the pain ever disappear for a long time? If so, how long? What made it go away?
  • Does the pain restrict your ability to move the affected areas?
  • Is the quality of the pain always the same or is it sometimes different? If so, how and when is it different?
  • If we were to use a ten-point pain scale, what would be the rank of your pain?
  • What makes your pain worse? (examples: movement, environmental factors, stress)
  • If the pain shifts throughout the body, how and where does it travel? How often?
  • Do you have other symptoms connected with this pain, such as redness, swelling, hot flashes, stiffness, muscle weakness, rapid weight loss?

Treatment for the Pain:  Read more…

Categories : Disability Hearing, Social Security Disability
Comments (0)

The Social Security Administration Can Recognize Diabetes as a Disability

May 6th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

Recognizing the symptoms of Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease which results in high blood sugar. Usually, it is caused by some problem with the body’s ability to make and use insulin, the hormone used by the body to regulate the metabolism of sugar in the body. A diabetic either does not produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or fails to efficiently utilize insulin (type 2 diabetes). The Social Security Administration does recognize diabetes as a disability if the effects of diabetes create limitations that significantly interfere with someone’s ability to work.

Some of the more common disabling effect of diabetes are:  Read more…

Categories : Diabetes, Social Security Disability
Comments (0)

How does Social Security Evaluate a Disability Case?

May 2nd, 2013 by Sharon Christie

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has developed two sets of regulations to assess the numerous claims for Social Security disability benefits that it receives every year.

Listing of Impairments

One of the regulations the SSA has created is a Listing of Impairments, which is comprised of common physical and mental impairments. If the claimant meets the requirements of a listed impairment, he or she is said to “meet the Listing” and will qualify for Social Security disability benefits regardless of whether they can engaged in past relevant work.

However, if the claimant does not meet any of the Listings’ exact specifications, he or she can still be found disabled under the Listings if their Social Security disability attorney can successfully prove that their disability is as severe as a particular impairment in the Listing of Impairments. The claimant is then said to “equal the Listing.”

Medical-Vocational Guidelines

Another regulation created by the SSA is the Medical-Vocational Guidelines, which are used in cases where the claimant cannot be found disabled according to the standards of the Listing of Impairments but where the claimant’s Social Security disability attorney has successfully proven that the claimant cannot perform any past relevant work. The Medical-Vocational Guidelines only apply to disabling conditions.

Categories : Social Security Disability, Social Security Disability Applications, SSA evaluation process
Comments (0)

Social Security Disability Judges Fight Quotas

April 29th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

An article in the Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-social-security-leadership-20130428,0,5576383.story, describes the federal lawsuit recently filed on behalf of the nation’s 1400 Social Security disability judges in protest over the number of cases they are expected to decide each year. The lawsuit claims that the judges are under pressure to decide up to 700 cases per year, leading to poor decisions. As a lawyer who helps clients get Social Security disability benefits I can tell you that this is a real problem all the way around.

Baby boomers in the workforce are in their 50’s and 60’s, the largest age group for disabling medical conditions. These demographics predicted a sharp increase in Social Security disability claims, and that is exactly what has happened. The process has slowed to a crawl. For most people, it takes at least a year to get to the point where you can ask for a hearing with a judge, and then it takes another year to actually have the hearing. This is a tremendous hardship for someone who can no longer work and needs disability benefits. The backlog of cases nationwide waiting for a hearing is over 700,000! Read more…

Categories : Disability Hearing, Social Security Disability
Comments (0)

Why Was My Claim for Social Security Disability Benefits Denied?

April 29th, 2013 by Sharon Christie

I hear that question a lot! As an experienced Social Security disability lawyer, I can tell you that many legitimate disability claims are denied at least once, and frequently twice. Being denied for benefits is a disheartening experience, since it feels like the Social Security Administration is telling you that your pain and suffering does not matter.  As a result, you may be tempted to give up.  However, if you meet the definition of disabled, giving up is the worst thing you can do.

Your Odds of Getting Benefits on Appeal Are High

In fact, around two-thirds of all applications for Social Security disability benefits are initially denied.  A great many of them are legitimate claims, and if a case can reach the administrative hearing level of the appeals process, the odds of ultimately receiving benefits is much better. Why? Because the Administrative Law Judge has all of the medical evidence in the file plus the claimant. The judge can question the claimant directly about why he cannot work and how his condition limits day-to-day activities.

This begs the question, of course, as to why so many denials are handed out in the first place?   Read more…

Categories : Social Security Disability, Social Security Disability Applications
Comments (0)
Next Page »

Subscribe to receive updates

 Subscribe in a reader  OR Click here for updates via email

What happens after you file your Social Security disability claim

Newsletters

Click Here to view newsletters.

Register for an Upcoming Seminar

First, click on the date.
Then on "Register Now."

Facebook

Sharon Christie Law | Social Security Disability Lawyer & Nurse
Contact Us | Terms & Disclaimers | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2013 All Rights Reserved