SSDRC

Filing an Application for Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability List of Impairments

Social Security Disability and SSI Back pay

Social Security Disability Status

SSI Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability and SSI Requirements

Social Security, SSI, and Mental Disability

How Long Does It Take To Get Disability Benefits?

Qualifying: What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability?

Facts about Hernia and Filing for Disability

1) A hernia happens when an organ extends beyond its normal placement where it is contained by the muscular wall. This is usually due to a thin muscular wall or a small tear or weak spot in the muscular wall that allows the organ to push through.

2) There are different types of hernias, depending on the area they occur in the body. An umbilical hernia is a hernia that occurs around the navel, an incisional hernia happens due to scarring during abdominal surgery, a hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach pushes up through the esophagus, a femoral hernia occurs in the upper thigh, and an inguinal hernia occurs in the scrotum or groin. The most common type of hernia is located in the abdomen.

3) Symptoms of a hernia can include tenderness, unusual lumps, pain and discomfort in the area the hernia is present. These symptoms can increase when lifting something heavy or bending in certain ways.

4) Hernias may be due to lifting heavy objects, but they are also more likely to occur if you have extra weight, a family history of hernias, an enlarged prostate, cystic fibrosis, chronic constipation or cough, or undescended testicles.

5) Children and even infants may also develop abdominal hernias due to an underdeveloped lining around their organs. Boys are more likely to develop a hernia than girls.

6) Getting treatment for a hernia as soon as possible is vital. Left untreated hernias can lead to serious complications, from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, necrosis, ischemia, gangrene, and even death.

7) Hernias are generally treated by an surgical procedure called herniorrhaphy. This requires the surgeon to push back the organ into its natural placement and strengthening the muscular wall to keep it in place.

8) To reduce your chances of developing a hernia keep your weight at a healthy level, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, and make sure to get enough fiber in your diet. It is also important to be careful when lifting heavy objects, using correct lifting methods that lessen strain.

Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition?

Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis).

It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities).

Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels?

Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons:

1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge;

2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level;

3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently.