What Do You Need To Qualify for Disability for Back Pain?
Back pain, of course, isn’t just one thing. It can come from many different back issues you may have.
For a Social Security Disability claim for back pain, you’ll need to point to the specific medical diagnosis that causes your pain, limits your movement, and rules out working.
Getting Social Security Disability benefits requires you to prove your health problems make it impossible to work much at all, and your status won’t change for at least 12 months.
For back conditions, you do this in part by submitting medical evidence such as x-ray images, CT scans, MRIs, physical exam reports, lab test results, muscle strength tests, surgical records, prescription lists, and doctors’ recommendations for devices like walkers and wheelchairs.
These are just some of the conditions that can give you a claim for disability with back pain:
- Arthritis
- Fractures in vertebrae
- Degenerative disc disease
- Herniated discs
- Inflammation (arachnoiditis, spondylitis)
- Narrowing of the spine (spinal stenosis)
- Nerve problems
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Scoliosis
- Slipped vertebrae (spondylolisthesis)
- Surgical side effects
Your disability claim can involve multiple health impairments, including ones not listed here.
If Social Security doesn’t provide guidelines for the exact impairment you have, you can also show it a measurement of your “residual functional capacity” or RFC.
RFC is Social Security’s term for how much physical activity you can handle despite your pain, stiffness and other limitations.
You can start the process of building your claim for benefits by having a free conversation with the Oregon disability attorneys at Wells, Manning, Eitenmiller & Taylor.
Ways to Improve Your Chances of Winning Disability Benefits for Back Pain
When you’re in pain and it’s interfering with your life and livelihood, in an ideal world help would be easily available.
But that’s not our world.
Typically, about 80 percent of people get denied for disability benefits on their first try.
Being rejected and having to appeal the decision is practically a built-in part of the process.
As you deal with your bad back, here are some things you can do to increase your chances of success getting disability benefits:
- Keep up with ongoing medical treatment. This is important to get all the evidence you need.
- Hold on to records of your medical care, including doctor visits, prescriptions you take, therapy you receive, surgeries you’ve had and more.
- Answer questions from Social Security thoroughly, correctly and carefully on all the application forms.
- If you’re denied benefits, don’t shy away from appealing the decision.
- Stay on top of deadlines and requests for information from Social Security.
- Work with an experienced Oregon disability lawyer. The process may be new to you, but lawyers work on similar cases all the time.
Benefits come with monthly income support and access to Medicare or Medicaid health care.
This can be life-changing, so make sure you approach it right.
A disability lawyer can help you avoid mistakes that may lead to denials and prolong the process.
The disability attorneys at Wells, Manning, Eitenmiller & Taylor pride themselves on working personally with clients, helping from the very first step of applying for benefits, and making sure you’re treated with dignity and respect throughout the process.
If back pain is pushing you down, let us help you move forward.
We’re with You Every Step of the Way
Whether you’re trying to determine if you’re qualified for disability benefits, you need help filing your application, or you received a denial notice and want another chance, our law firm helps from the beginning and stays by your side.
Have a Question about Disability Benefits?
Your health is bad. You can’t work. Your financial stability is threatened. So your head is swimming with questions. How will you get by? How does Social Security Disability work? We’ve gathered answers. See them here:
Disability FAQs »
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“Have a question? The entire staff is knowledgeable and willing to help. Concerned about some aspect of your case? Say something and they usually have the words to help reassure you.”
