There are numerous ways to sustain an injury that prevents you from being able to work, but the numbers speak for themselves, back injuries are the single largest reason for someone seeking disability payments.
It can be a complicated and combative process trying to get the financial support you need when you are unable to work due to a back injury, which is why a social security disability attorney like Massachusetts.m-n-law.com often get asked to fight a claim on your behalf.
Defining back pain
Social Security offices around the country are processing disability applications due to back problems, on a daily basis, and their first task is to try and determine which claims qualify and which ones should be rejected because they determine that the claimants have only moderate or intermittent back pain.
When defining whether your back pain is considered serious or permanent enough to qualify for disability payments, you will have to prove that you have a medically determinable back impairment.
Your age can be an influential factor, so if you are aged 50 or over and suffer from intermittent back pain for example, you are unlikely to be granted benefits. If however, you have what is considered to be a medically determinable back problem like spinal stenosis, arachnoiditis, or nerve root compression, this may pass Social Security severity requirements, but it is rarely cut and dried that you will instantly qualify, even if you have a recognized medical condition.
On the list
Social Security have a list of recognized back disorders and certain conditions will be noted on their official impairment listing.
The list is not exactly extensive in comparison to the range of back problems you could be suffering from. In fact, arachnoiditis is actually one of just a handful of back conditions that are recognized as a defined impairment.
What tends to happen in a good number of applications, is you will have to prove that you have a back disorder which is not specifically defined within their disability listings. If for example, you suffer from reduced capacity due to back problems and even if the pain is severe, you may well have a battle to get disability benefits.
Degenerative disc disease
Social Security examiners see a high volume of back impairment claims, and although the exact percentages are not known, it is considered likely that they initially deny a fair percentage of them, so how does this affect a claim involving degenerative disk disease ?
One of the keys to making a successful disability claim based on degenerative disk disease, is to ensure that you get regular medical treatment for the problem.
This often weighs heavily in your favor if you can demonstrate that you have had to seek regular treatment for your DDD, and regular means seeing the doctor about once every two months, if you are going to satisfy the examiners and administrative law judges if necessary.
Building a profile for your back condition with the same doctor can often help your treatment as well as your claim, as they can develop a relationship with you and gain a greater understanding of your specific problems.
Spencer Parsons’s job is as a disability support worker. He finds it a rewarding job but also tough at times. He uses his writing as a way to get things off his chest, to help others and to raise awareness.