Getting Social Security Benefits When You Can't Sit for Long

A "sitting disability" can refer to any medical condition that significantly impacts your ability to sit for even a short time—often as the result of a back injury, neurological problem, or autoimmune disorder. People with degenerative disc disease, for example, may feel pain and numbness when seated because sitting upright places the back in a position that can put pressure on nerves in the spinal cord.

When you have a sitting disability, working full-time can be difficult or impossible, as most jobs require you to sit down for at least part of the day. But it can be hard to get benefits with a sitting disability because many of them can be managed effectively with medication or physical therapy. Knowing what evidence the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to see before it can find you disabled will go a long way towards helping you build a strong disability claim.

What Causes a Sitting Disability?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of medical impairments that can have an impact on your ability to sit. Many disability applicants ("claimants") report difficulty sitting due to physical conditions that affect the back, hips, and legs. Spinal stenosis, sciatica, and osteoarthritis are a few of the most common diagnoses that claims examiners encounter when reviewing applications for disability benefits. Some lesser known conditions—discussed below—can also make it hard to sit down for long periods of time.

Coccydynia

Coccydynia (kaak-suh-DIN-ee-uh) is the medical term for pain that occurs in and around the tailbone (coccyx). Often, doctors aren't sure what's causing coccydynia in their patients, but it can be related to trauma, infection, fractures, or hypermobility of the tailbone joint.

Symptoms of coccydynia include pain during bowel movements or intercourse, after sitting for long periods, and when moving from a sitting to standing position. Coccydynia may be treated effectively with rest, medication, physical therapy, and (in rare cases) surgical removal of the tailbone. Pain can continue despite surgery for some patients, however.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Myofascial (my-oh-FASH-ee-ul) pain syndrome is caused by chronic muscle contractions that cause pain and discomfort in different parts of the body. These areas of intense muscle stress may develop into highly sensitive and painful knots of muscle fiber called trigger points. Sitting for extended periods can cause painful "flare ups" in these trigger points. Myofascial pain syndrome is usually treated with medications (such as antidepressants or over-the-counter pain relievers) and physical therapy.

Pudendal Neuralgia

Pudendal neuralgia (pyoo-DEN-dul ner-AHL-juh) is an uncommon disorder of the pudendal nerve, which runs through the genitals. Pudendal neuralgia affects both men and women and can cause intense pain in the perineum, anus, testicles, penis, vagina, vulva, or urethra, particularly while sitting. Medication, surgery, and physical therapy may be effective in managing the condition, but some people still experience significant pain despite treatment.

How Can I Get Benefits for a Sitting Disability?

Social Security awards disability benefits (SSDI or SSI) to people who have a medically determinable impairment that keeps them from earning at or above substantial gainful activity for at least 12 months. More plainly, if you have evidence from a doctor of a condition that prevents you from working full-time for one year or more, you may be eligible for disability.

When you apply for benefits, the SSA reviews your medical records and activities of daily living for evidence of functional limitations that keep you from working. The agency then translates these functional limitations into a set of restrictions on what you can and can't do at work (known as your residual functional capacity, or "RFC"). If the restrictions in your RFC rule out your ability to perform your past work or any other jobs, you'll be awarded disability.

What Your RFC Should Include If You Have a Sitting Disability

One major component of almost every RFC involving physical impairments is a set of strength-related restrictions called the "exertional level." Your exertional level reflects how long you're able to sit, stand, and walk in a workday, as well as how much weight you can lift or carry. Depending on how well you can perform these activities, your RFC will likely contain a restriction to one of the following five exertional levels:

• Sedentary work. Defined as the ability to lift and carry no more than 10 pounds occasionally and to walk or stand not more than 2 hours out of an 8-hour workday.
• Light work. Defined as the ability to lift up to 20 pounds occasionally and frequently lift and carry objects up to 10 pounds and spend most of the day standing or walking.
• Medium work. Defined as the ability to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally and frequently lift and carry up to 25 pounds.
• Heavy work. Defined as the ability to lift up to 100 pounds occasionally and frequently lift and carry up to 50 pounds.
• Very heavy work. Defined as the ability to lift 100 pounds or more occasionally and frequently lift and carry 50 pounds or more.

The more medical records you have that document your struggles with sitting, standing, and lifting objects, the more limitations you'll have in your RFC. For example, an applicant with several MRIs showing moderate-to-severe spinal arachnoiditis may have an RFC for sedentary work, while another applicant who has one X-ray showing mild piriformis syndrome might have an RFC for light work. (It's rare to have an RFC for medium, heavy, or very heavy work as long as you have some medical evidence establishing that you have trouble sitting.)

Getting to a "Less Than Sedentary" RFC

As you can see from the above definitions, "sedentary work" is considered the least physically demanding exertional level. Sedentary jobs require you to sit down for most of the day, usually at a desk or workstation bench. Because these types of jobs don't involve heavy lifting or being on your feet most of the day, the SSA tends to assume that most people are physically able to perform these types of jobs, unless you have an exceptionally serious medical condition.

Here's the part where it gets tricky, especially for claimants younger than 50. The SSA needs to see that you're unable to perform both your past jobs and any other work, including the simplest sit-down jobs, before you can be found disabled. So if your old job was as a commercial roofer and you can't climb ladders anymore due to your back pain—but you can still sit at an assembly line cutting shingles—the agency is unlikely to find that you're disabled (without additional work restrictions). In this case, you'll need what is often referred to as a "less than sedentary" RFC to get approved for benefits.

Fortunately, Social Security is required to consider the combined effect of your impairments when assessing your RFC, and there are many "non-exertional" limitations that can rule out even sedentary jobs. Restrictions that "erode the occupational base" of sit-down work (meaning they reduce the pool of sedentary jobs you can perform) include:

• Manipulative limitations involve using your hands to do activities such as typing, pressing buttons, writing, driving, and grasping objects. Most sit-down jobs require frequent to constant manipulation, so anything that reduces your fine and gross motor skills (like carpal tunnel syndrome) can eliminate many, if not all, sedentary work.
• Mental limitations involve your ability to concentrate on job tasks, respond appropriately to work stress, and interact comfortably with your coworkers and the public. Disorders such as anxiety and depression can result in reduced productivity or excessive absences that the SSA considers "inconsistent with competitive employment."
• Postural limitations involve movements you shouldn't perform in order to avoid pain, or those that you must do to relieve pain. Pretty much anything that deviates from sitting upright—such as needing to elevate your legs above waist level, recline or lie down at your workstation, or switch positions frequently—can eliminate sedentary work.

Having a "less than sedentary" RFC is by far the most common reason why claimants under the age of 50 are approved for disability benefits, so it's very important that you're able to explain why you can't do sit-down jobs if you're applying as a younger individual. For more information, see our article about how to argue you can do only "less than sedentary" work.

Using the Medical-Vocational Grid Rules to Get Disability

Claimants 50 years of age and older may have an easier time qualifying for benefits under a special set of rules called the "medical-vocational grid" (or simply "the grid"). Under the grid rules, you may be able to win your disability claim even if you're still physically able to do sit-down work, provided you've never done that type of job before and you don't have the education or transferable skills for a different line of work. You can learn more in our series of articles on how to win benefits using the grid rules.

Can My Doctor's Opinion Help?

Even though deciding who is disabled is a legal rather than exclusively medical decision, Social Security relies on the opinions of both consultative doctors and treating doctors to gather insight into your health. The SSA is likely to give your treating doctor's opinion substantial weight if it's backed up by medical evidence and consistent with information from other doctors or sources.

Therefore, it's a good idea to ask your regular doctor to prepare an RFC (or "medical source statement") for you that includes information on your limited ability to sit. When completing the form, your doctor should explain how the objective evidence—such as nerve conduction studies, MRIs, or lab tests—supports their professional opinion that your ability to sit is limited.

If your doctor seems reluctant to fill out the paperwork, check out our article on how to get your doctor's help to approve your disability claim.

SSDI and SSI Benefit Amounts for a Sitting Disability

Social Security doesn't pay benefits based on the type of disabling condition you have. Instead, the amount of your disability check will depend on whether you're eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSDI benefits are available to people who've paid into the program by way of payroll or self-employment taxes, while SSI is a needs-based program for people with limited resources regardless of work history.

If you qualify for SSDI, you can receive up to $4,018 per month (in 2025), but the average amount is much less, at $1,580. That's because SSDI benefits are calculated based on how much you earned before you became disabled, which varies significantly from person to person.

SSI benefits are set by the federal government every year ($967 per month in 2025), adjusted annually to account for increases in the cost of living. If you qualify for SSI, your monthly benefit will consist of this flat rate minus any countable income you have in that month.

I Was Denied Benefits. What Do I Do Next?

Getting a denial letter doesn't have to be the end of the line for your disability claim. Only about 35% of claimants are approved on their first try, and your highest odds of winning are at the hearing level, where you can speak directly with an administrative law judge about why you can't work.

Before you can request a hearing, however, you'll need to appeal to the reconsideration stage of the disability review process. You have 60 days after you receive the denial letter to request reconsideration, which involves a different claim examiner looking at your case file (and any new medical evidence you've submitted) to see whether the initial denial was incorrect.

Keep in mind that proving you can't sit long enough to do a sedentary job isn't an easy task, especially for younger claimants. Your best chance is to establish regular, ongoing care with a doctor and then follow up with Social Security to provide the agency with updated records showing that you can't sit for longer than 2 hours total in an 8-hour day.

Consider contacting an experienced disability attorney who can help you build the robust medical evidence you'll need to get a less-than-sedentary RFC. Disability lawyers work on contingency—meaning your lawyer won't get paid if you don't win—so there's little financial risk in hiring one.