Chronic Pain
Disability Benefits for Chronic Pain in Ohio & Michigan
Pain is a temporary disruption to most people. They may not understand that for others, the frequency and intensity of pain is severe enough to interfere with daily life.
If your pain is so bad that you struggle to work and support yourself, you may be able to claim Social Security Disability benefits.
But winning benefits won’t be easy. The government has high standards for claims to get approved, and applying for benefits with a condition like chronic pain is tricky.
Measuring and documenting pain symptoms isn’t a perfect science. We don’t fully understand the causes of many pain disorders. The experience of pain is difficult to translate from one person to another.
You shouldn’t have to get through a disability claim for chronic pain without help. Let a Detroit disability lawyer from Levine Benjamin Law Firm guide and support you.
The disability attorneys of Levine Benjamin have helped 100,000 people in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Flint, Elkhart, Toledo, and all across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
We take time to listen to you, understand your situation, and help you tell your story so you can get financial relief.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are supposed to be a lifeline for people who can’t work because of their health, but actually winning benefits is a struggle.
You need someone who can assist you with every step of your disability claim, so you don’t get lost in the system.
Let our disability lawyers help, and you’ll only pay an attorney fee when you win benefits.
From applying to appealing, we help you every step of the way.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?
When Can You Claim Social Security Disability for Chronic Pain?
To claim disability for chronic pain, you’ll need to meet Social Security’s highly particular definition of disability.
SSDI and SSI aren’t for people with short-term health problems. These benefits are for people with conditions so severe that they can’t work and support themselves for the long term.
Even if you think your chronic pain obviously interferes with your ability to work, a claims examiner will look for ways that you could still work and support yourself—in different jobs, or with certain treatments, or work accommodations.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will consider your age, education, and whether you have skills that could easily translate to another line of work.
Social Security will examine records from your doctors and treatment and evaluate your “residual functional capacity (RFC)” to determine what kind of work you might be able to do.
Maybe you worked a highly physical job, something the SSA would refer to as “heavy” work. An examiner looks at your condition and gives you an RFC of “sedentary” or “light” work, which to them means you could get a different job and don’t need benefits.
This is one of the biggest challenges facing anyone seeking disability benefits for chronic pain. You need to be able to show that your condition prevents you from doing any type of work for at least a year.
Our Michigan disability attorneys can tell you more about Social Security’s standards for disability and what you can do to make your claim more convincing.
Proving Your Chronic Pain Qualifies for Social Security Disability
You know how difficult it can be to explain to someone just how debilitating your pain symptoms are.
Now think about how trying to convince a disability claims examiner poring through stacks of disability benefits applications that you should qualify for benefits. They’ve never met you and only see you as another case file.
You should clearly connect your pain to any medical conditions you’ve been diagnosed with known for pain symptoms, such as back conditions, chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS), fibromyalgia, injuries, migraine headaches, musculoskeletal conditions, neck conditions, osteoarthritis, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), rheumatoid arthritis or many others.
Then you’ll want to be specific about your symptoms and how they affect you in everyday life.
Talk about work, but also much more. Explain how your chronic pain affects you when you’re doing household chores, running errands, and even when you just need to take care of yourself.
You’re going to need to back up your chronic pain disability claim with plenty of evidence.
Some items that can help include:
- Lab test results
- Records from physical therapy and other treatments
- Statements from your doctors
- A list of medications you take to manage your pain
- Statements from friends, family members, and others who have witnessed your health struggles
- Evidence of disruptions to your work, like reduced hours or missed days
Even if you have significant evidence, your disability claim could still be denied. Most people get rejected the first time they apply.
We know just how difficult this can be because our Detroit disability attorneys have been helping hard-working people like you for more than 60 years.
When you ask us for help, your disability claim is in good hands. We’re the top Michigan disability law firm by the amount in benefits that we’ve won for our clients.
Whether you need help filling out forms and describing in detail how chronic pain has altered your life, or you’ve already been denied disability benefits and need assistance with your appeal, we’re here for you.