Qualifying for Social Security Disability based on chronic pain

Even though we know that the disabling effects of chronic pain can make it impossible to work, it can be difficult to qualify chronic pain as a disability to the Social Security Administration. The problem is that there is no good way to measure pain, so it is difficult to establish objective medical evidence about how disabling your pain is.

The factors the Social Security Administration reviews to determine a disability based on pain

The Social Security Administration recognizes that pain cannot be measured objectively through clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques. Therefore, to evaluate how disabling pain is, the Social Security Administration looks at subjective evidence about your pain. This subjective evidence comes from your testimony and the testimony of your witnesses, such as friends, family, and co-workers.

When the Social Security Administration looks at subjective evidence of a disability based on pain, it looks at various factors that indicate your functional limitations that are caused by the pain. Some of the factors that show these limitations are:

Proving to the Social Security Administration that pain is a significant disability

To prove that your pain prevents you from working, we will want to provide evidence that describes your pain, your treatment, and the restrictions on your activities. Each of these three areas should be described in detail, including:

Your Pain

Your Treatment

Your Restrictions

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