This information may help claimants with representation, as well as claimants who are not represented by an attorney or non attorney representative. Understanding how the Social Security Disability system works can make the difference between winning or not winning the continuing disability benefits and backpay to which a person is entitled. To win a claim for ongoing and past due benefits, claimants should learn about the disability process to improve their chances of winning ssd or ssi. |
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In Social Security Disability 's Listing of Impairments manual there is a specific section for degenerative disc disease. The section is 1.04, Disorders of the spine, and it includes osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, herniated nucleus pulposus, spinal arachnoiditis, and, of course, degenerative disc disease.
Degenerative disc disease may actually be the one impairment recorded on disability applications---aside from high blood pressure and diabetes (and the neuropathies that generally follow diabetes)---that disability Examiners see more than any other. However, despite the many disability claims referencing this impairment, it is not an easy one to win cases on, especially for individuals younger than fifty (and particularly for individuals under the age of forty) Exactly how does Social Security Disability view Degenerative Disc Disease? As with every claim for disability, after a person files their claim at the Social Security Office, their case is transferred to Disability Determination Services, the agency responsible for making decisions on Disability cases. When a case arrives at DDS, it is assigned to a specialist, or Examiner, who orders medical records and uses these records to make a determination. In other words, approve a disability claim, or deny it. Generally, the various DDS offices around the country tend to be very dismissive of cases involving back pain---so dismissive, in fact, that Social Security has been sued over the matter of not properly addressing a claimant's pain. Unfortunately, today, the disability system still does not adequately address back pain and the effect that back pain can have on an individual's ability to persist at a job. As a former disability Examiner, myself, I can explicitly state the following: in many cases, Social Security Disability will expect an individual who has performed work of a certain exertional level to go back to that same job, or to a job where the exertional requirements are similar. Naturally, this implies a denial of a claimant's disability claim. This often means that the person who performed medium-level work in the past (medium exertion is defined as the ability to lift 50 lbs occasionally and 25 lbs frequently) is expected to return to such work. Obviously, the Social Security Administration's position on back cases and back pain is unfair and not at all realistic. Anyone who has ever experienced severe and continuous back pain (myself included) knows how debilitating the effect can be. And anyone in perfect health who has ever picked up a fifty pound weight knows how very heavy that weight is. But this is one of the fundamental problems regarding impairments that involve pain: only the person experiencing the pain can actually know how bad it is, and the degree to which it affects them. For this reason---and because Disability Examiners give little consideration to complaints of pain---medical records become that much more important in cases involving back conditions. What does Social Security look for in Degenerative Disc Disease cases? When an Examiner opens a newly assigned file and sees either disc herniation, back pain, lumbar problems, spinal stenosis, degenerative joint disease, degenerative disc disease, or the acronym DJD (which stands for degenerative joint disease) they begin to look for the following evidence (once they have in hand, of course, the records they've requested from a claimant's treatment sources):
Interpretations of imaging studies (e.g., a doctor reads an xray film and gives an opinion as to its meaning) are extremely important since xrays, CAT scans, and MRI's are the only purely objective evidence that will come into play in a disability case involving back problems. In other words, while a physician can easily diagnose degenerative disc disease based on a patient's symptom's, without the imaging studies there will be no way to prove the extent to which the condition exists. For this reason, disabilty claimants should always follow through on appointments for xrays and the like. Additionally, Disability Examiners look for certain other indications, in the notes recorded by a claimant's treating physician, regarding decreased range of motion, reduced muscular strength (doctors use a five point scale; for example, 5/5 right leg strength indicates full right leg strength while 1/5 indicates severely diminished right leg strength), poor gait, and positive straight leg raises. Obviously, just as crucial as it is in a disc disease case to have the necessary imaging studies performed, it is also crucial to be followed closely by a physician, particulary an orthopedist. Getting regular medical treatment can help ensure that, when the time comes, sufficient medical records exist to substantiate a disability claim for a back condition. Disability Advocates Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ATTORNEY, REPRESENTATIVE LAWYER LIST ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 1 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 2 |
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If you suffer from a medical disability such as hip, neck, shoulder, ankle, wrist, back, or other joint problems, disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rsi or repetetive stress injury, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, dysthymia, depression or other mood disorders, congestive or chronic heart failure, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, high blood pressure (hypertension), seizure disorder, stroke, copd, emphysema, hearing loss or poor hearing, statutory blindness, peripheral field problems or other vision loss, clinical obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity or, simply, adhd, bipolar disorder or manic depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia, autism, head trauma, memory loss, low iq, mental retardation, learning disability, epilepsy, cancer, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, lupus, anxiety, inner ear problems, meniere's, vertigo or dizziness, kidney failure requiring dialysis or other renal problems, cirrhosis, hepatitis, or other liver disease, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, rsd or reflex sympathetic dystrophy, crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, peripheral vascular disease, lyme disease, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hiv, aids, anemia, sickle cell, thyroid problems including hypothyroidism, esrd or end stage renal disease, reflux, gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease), cfids, muscular dystrophy, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, or tachycardia, bradycardia or other arrhythmia and have initiated or been denied on a social security disability, or ssi, claim for benefits, this site may assist you with your case. Social Security Disability benefits are often difficult to win; however many claims for social security disability are lost simply because a claimant did not know enough about the disability process to their social security or ssi claim. For information re: representation on a social security disability or ssi claim (attorney or non attorney representative), see the "questions" & "how" pages. |
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