 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Repetitive Stress Injury and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is also known as regional musculoskeletal disorder, overuse syndrome, repetitive strain injury, cumulative trauma disorder, occupational overuse syndrome, repetitive motion disorder, and repetitive motion injuries. 2. RSI is an injury that is caused by doing repetitive tasks or repetitively being in awkward positions for a sustained amount of time. These injuries affect the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system and usually result in tissue damage, muscle strain or inflammation. 3. One of the most common causes of repetitive stress injury currently is using a computer keyboard and mouse, although there are many different repetitive tasks that can cause RSI, from playing tennis or golf, repetitively lifting boxes, and playing a musical instrument, to repetitively scanning items at a grocery store. Basically any repetitive motion done for a sustained amount of time can cause RSI. 4. Symptoms may include pain, weakness, tingling, numbness, stiffness, soreness, and fatigue in the affected area. There may also be a clicking or popping sensation in the affected area. 5. Studies have shown that RSI most commonly affects the hands, wrists, shoulders, and back. 6. Repetitive stress injury is an ‘umbrella term’ that is used for nonspecific illnesses and other activity-related pain, which can include gamer’s thumb, cuber’s thumb, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tendonitis, epicondylitis, Golfer’s elbow, Tennis elbow, thoracic outlet syndrome, radial tunnel syndrome, and more. 7. Ergonomics can often help decrease the risk for RSI, as can regular exercise, according to studies. Setting break timers if possible, and can also help if doing repetitive motions over a long period of time. 8. In some cases of RSI doctors will prescribe therapy, pain medications or braces. 9. Studies have shown that psychological stress can make pain associated with RSI worse, by nearly double, and many doctors believe that stress may be the cause of the pain due to RSI, and not just merely a symptom. 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. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |