What Kinds of Back Injuries Can Social Security Recognize as a Disability?
Whether you suffered a back injury in an accident or another condition is causing your back pain, what matters for a disability claim is whether your health issues are serious enough to stop you from working.
Many people can work after a back injury. Some people switch to a different, less physical job and still manage to support themselves without needing disability benefits.
You need to be clear about how your back injury affects you and why it prevents you from doing any substantial work.
You’ll also need to have evidence organized and ready to send to the Social Security Administration (SSA) when you apply for disability benefits.
You can back up your claim with items like:
- Your doctor’s evaluation of your everyday functioning
- Evidence that you’ve been to see specialists, like orthopedists
- Information about treatments you’ve tried and their effectiveness
- A list of prescription medications you take, their dosages and their side effects
- Information about any surgeries you’ve undergone
- Evidence that you need mobility aids, like a cane or walker
It can also be helpful to have evidence of other conditions that interact with your back injury, making it even more difficult to work and support yourself.
Health issues that can cause or exacerbate pain from a back injury include:
- Arthritis
- Degenerative disc disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Fused vertebrae
- Nerve root compression
- Obesity
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sciatica
- Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spine)
- Spondylosis
Some of these ailments are listed among Social Security’s qualifying impairments in its “blue book,” meaning that claims examiners are looking for specific symptoms when they examine your claim.
For example, if you apply for disability due to some form of nerve root compression, a claims examiner will be looking for things like pain, muscle fatigue, muscle weakness, reduced sensation, decreased deep tendon reflexes and a need for assistive devices.
Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see your condition listed or if you’re not sure whether you meet the exact specifications listed for your health issue.
You can still qualify for financial assistance if you can show that your back injury is serious enough to prevent you from working, and our Utah disability lawyers can help.
Get started with a FREE back injury disability claim consultation.
What If My Back Injury Doesn’t Meet a Disability Listing?
If you’re not able to meet one of the specific listings in the SSA’s blue book, you need to show that your back injury leaves you unable to work any job a substantial amount for 12 months or longer.
Your residual functional capacity (RFC) will be key to your disability claim. It’s understood that your back injury limits you in some ways, but your RFC gives a claims examiner an idea of what kind of work you could still do.
The SSA breaks down work into five categories. From least to most physically and mentally taxing, we have sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy work.
To give Social Security an idea about what you can still do, you’ll need to answer questions about your capabilities like:
- How long can you sit, stand or walk for?
- Can you lift, carry, push or pull objects?
- Can you type, grasp small objects or perform other activities that require fine motor control?
- Can you bend over or stoop?
- Can you climb or crawl?
It is very helpful if you can have your doctors document problems with these functional capabilities in your medical visit notes.
Back pain can affect your mental health too, so you should also be prepared to talk about how your injury affects your concentration, your ability to remember instructions or how you interact with others.
All this information about your pain and limitations should make it clear that your current job isn’t the issue. Your back injury prevents you from working any job.
This is often the biggest obstacle when applying for Social Security Disability benefits.
Your disability claim needs to be convincing enough to show that the radiating pain, numbness, weakness and other symptoms caused by your back injury make doing even sedentary types of work, like a desk job, impossible.
Other factors, like your age, education level and job history, can also impact whether Social Security thinks that you can change jobs and work to support yourself, but your RFC is going to be an important component of your claim.
You should work with a Lehi disability attorney who can help you tell your story.
How a Utah Disability Lawyer Helps with Back Injury Disability Claims
Winning disability benefits isn’t easy. Some people think that they just need to fill out some forms and wait to receive SSDI payments.
The reality is that this process is more complex than that. It’s easy to make mistakes when you apply for benefits, and getting your claim approved is likely to take a year or more.
You should have an experienced Utah disability lawyer on your side who can guide you through this process step by step and help you avoid some common pitfalls that delay claims or could result in you getting denied disability benefits.
A disability attorney can:
- Assist you with SSA forms
- Help you identify specific job duties that your impairment prohibits you from doing
- Go over your daily routines to find household tasks that you can no longer do
- Help you gather and identify orthopedic records and medical evidence that can support your claim
- Keep you updated on the status of your disability claim
- Support your appeal if you get denied benefits
- Represent you at your hearing in front of an administrative law judge
- Prepare you for your hearing so you know what to expect
- Question expert witnesses at your hearing
If pain from a back injury and related health conditions have stopped you from working, Social Security Disability benefits can provide a vital financial lifeline.
But actually getting approved for SSDI is a challenge. Get assistance from professionals who understand what goes into a successful disability claim.
The lawyers of Barnes Disability Advocates don’t shy away from tough cases. We take on claims that other attorneys won’t, and we still have an 85% plus win rate through the hearing level.
We’ll treat your back injury disability claim with the attention it deserves and you won’t pay an attorney fee unless you win benefits.
Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with our team.
Do You Want to Know More About Our Disability Lawyers in Utah?
Barnes Disability also helps with long-term disability claims when you have a private insurance policy to protect your finances if you lose the ability to work. Our disability attorneys have decades of experience and a mission to help everyday people find peace and dignity in difficult times.
