Chronic Pain

If obesity is a factor in your Social Security disability claim, an experienced Ocala disability attorney can help explain the Social Security Administration's requirements regarding Body Mass Index (BMI) and following prescribed treatments. About Your BMI Obesity is commonly evaluated using the BMI. The BMI gives you a body fat measurement based on both your height and weight. The formula to calculate your BMI is weight in pounds divided by your height in squared inches. That number is then multiplied by 704.5. For example, if you weighed 145 pounds and were 60 inches tall, your BMI calculations are 145/602 x 704.5 = 28.375 or 28.38. According to the National Institutes of Health, if you have a BMI of 25 to…Read More

Chronic pain can be defined in a number of different ways. It can be continuous, irregular, or intense. It can be pain that cannot be eliminated by standard medical treatment, pain that persists after an injury or illness has resolved, or pain for which no origin can be determined. Many Florida Social Security disability clients suffer from chronic pain. However, claimants suffering from chronic pain sometimes have trouble convincing the Social Security Administration that their pain prevents them from working because pain tends to be subjective and difficult to measure. Thus, the Social Security Administration will look at the credibility of the claimant’s description of his or her pain in order to determine if Social Security disability benefits will be…Read More

If you have a medically determinable impairment, that is -- your medical records and doctors’ reports illustrate an underlying physical or mental impairment that could reasonably be expected to cause your pain, the Social Security Administration next evaluates the intensity and persistence of your pain to determine how it limits your ability to perform basic work activities. The Social Security Administration will consider all evidence that has been presented including, but not limited to, your medical history and findings and statements from you, your treating physicians, or other persons, regarding how you are affected by your pain. The Social Security Administration will also consider medical opinions of doctors who have treated or examined you. In addition to objective medical evidence,…Read More

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits if you are under the age of 50, you will likely need to prove you cannot perform most sedentary jobs.  Sedentary work is the physically easiest type of work recognized by the Social Security Administration.  Even so, sedentary jobs require the ability to sit for extended periods and do some walking and standing.  As discussed in the previous post, sitting, walking, and standing limitations can significantly reduce the number of sedentary jobs you can perform. Sedentary jobs also typically require a certain capacity to manipulate objects with the hands and fingers.  Proof that you lack the requisite dexterity can help to establish that there are few sedentary jobs that you can perform. Specifically,…Read More

Your credibility is the extent to which your statements regarding your pain can be believed and accepted as true. There are two significant factors that can increase the credibility of your statements concerning your pain: The consistency of your statements to each other and with other information in your case record. All statements made by you regarding your pain that are in your case record will be examined by the Social Security Administration. These include statements made to your doctors that have been recorded in your medical records, statements made in Social Security disability forms and questionnaires that were prepared during the application process, statements made in connection with claims for other types of disability benefits, and testimony at your…Read More

An experienced Florida Social Security disability attorney will tell you that the Social Security Administration differentiates between evidence from “acceptable” medical sources and “other” medical sources. You may be surprised to learn that chiropractors appear on the list of “other” medical sources, a list that includes, among others, nurse practitioners and naturopaths. In fact, the administrative law judge hearing your Social Security disability case may consider chiropractic evidence to be the least reliable form of “other” medical source evidence. Accordingly, the judge presiding over your hearing may assign less weight to records from your chiropractor compared to records from other medical sources. Likewise, the judge may give less credibility to your chiropractor’s opinion regarding your impairment. Due to the lack…Read More

A CT technologist at an area hospital applied for benefits under her disability insurance policy that she paid for through payroll deductions. Although she had rotator cuff tear for many years, her employer accommodated her restrictions so that she could continue working. She filed a claim when Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue, combined with her other medical conditions, made it impossible for her to perform the duties of her occupation. As a CT technologist, she needed to be able to walk, bend, stoop, lift and reposition patients and equipments and be ready to respond in an emergency. Unum denied her STD claim, solely on the basis that the condition was work related. Claudeth Henry, of CJ Henry Law Firm, PLLC partnered…Read More

Arch Surg. 2008 Mar;143(3):282-7; Prevalence of pain in patients 1 year after major trauma.Rivara FP, Mackenzie EJ, Jurkovich GJ, Nathens AB, Wang J, Scharfstein DO. Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Box 359960, 325 Ninth Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. fpr@u.washington.edu OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of pain in a large cohort of trauma patients 1 year after injury and to examine personal, injury, and treatment factors that predict the presence of chronic pain in these patients. SETTING: Sixty-nine hospitals in 14 states in the United States. PATIENTS: There were 3047 patients (10 371 weighted) aged 18 to 84 years who were admitted to the hospital because of acute…Read More

Pain and depression are among the leading causes of long term disability. According to a literature review, on average 63 % of patients with depression experience one or more pain complaint and depression is present in 5% -85% (depending on the study setting) of patients with pain conditions. [Matthew J. Bair, MD, MS; Rebecca L Robinson, MS; Wayne Katon, MD and Kurt Kroenke, MD Arch Intern MED/Vol 163, Nov 10, 2003] Insurance carriers love to see these conditions in your medical records because those conditions allow them to limit or deny benefits caused by self reported symptoms. You should know there are ways to objectify your complaints. Therefore, you must seek legal representation should your insurance claim be denied based…Read More