Arthritis is a painful and debilitating condition. If you suffer from arthritis, it can affect your ability to perform your daily tasks as well as your ability to work. If your arthritis is severe enough that it keeps you from working, you may qualify for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). There are many kinds of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Arthritis can lead to swelling and stiffness of the joints, joint aches, redness around the joint, and a decreased range of motion. Sometimes the condition worsens with age despite treatment.
Arthritis And Your Ability To Perform Physical Work
Arthritis can affect multiple joints or a single joint. Common pain areas include the ankle, back, toes, wrist, neck, or hands. The pain can be sharp or intermittent, and it can lead to muscle weakness and decreased range of motion as well as cause difficulty walking. Sometimes it leads to deformities, such as bony outgrowths on the toes and fingers or bumps on the fingers.
Uric acid crystals, which form when there is too much uric acid in your bloodstream, can cause gout, which is a kind of arthritis. Underlying diseases such as lupus or psoriasis as well as infections can lead to other kinds of arthritis. The treatment varies depending on the kind of arthritis and its severity. The goal of treatments is to improve qualify of life and reduce the severity of the symptoms.
Arthritis And Your Ability To Perform Sedentary Work
Disability Determination Services will check to make sure you cannot perform any kind of work. The least strenuous work is sedentary work. Sometimes the arthritis is so severe you are unable to do sedentary work duties. This may be because the pain makes it impossible to sit for long periods, the joint swelling and stiffness makes it impossible to do fine hand movements that are needed for sorting or filing.
To have a successful claim, you must provide supporting documentation that details your restrictions and limitations and that proves your condition makes working impossible. Detailed medical records such as physician notes and test results, such as reports from scans, imaging, and x-rays can help determine the severity. You should also include physician records that specify any restrictions or limitations you suffer because of your arthritis.
Consult With A Disability Attorney
If you have arthritis and it so severe you are unable to work, you should consult with a Social Security Disability lawyer. With the help of an attorney, you are much more likely to have a successful claim and be awarded disability benefits. There are different ways to get your claim underway. You can do so by going to the Social Security website at ssa.gov or by calling 1-800-772-1213 and starting the process over the phone or scheduling an appointment at your local Social Security field office. Because the process is complex, schedule your free case evaluation today so you can determine how to proceed with your disability claim for arthritis.
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