Proof of Your Chronic Pain’s Limiting Effects
Persistence, Intensity, and Limiting Effects
Dublin Social Security disability lawyers will advise you that once you have used your medical records to show that you possess a medically determinable impairment which reasonably could be expected to generate your pain, the persistence and intensity of your pain will then be evaluated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to establish how it restricts your ability to work. The SSA decision maker will take into consideration:
- Your medical findings.
- Your history.
- Statements from your examining or treating physicians concerning the effect your pain has on you.
- Statements from you concerning your pain’s effect.
- Statements from others concerning your pain’s effect.
- Medical opinions from treating or examining physicians.
When evaluating and examining your pain, Dublin Social Security disability lawyers know that the SSA considers the following:
- Causes and aggravations of your pain.
- The dosage, type, side effects and effectiveness of any medications you have taken or currently take to treat your pain.
- Other treatments besides medication you have received or currently receive.
- Other remedies you have used to relieve your pain such as sleeping on a board, standing for a certain amount of time each hour, or lying flat on your back.
- Daily activities you engage in.
- The intensity, frequency, duration and location of your pain.
- Any other factors concerning the restrictions and limitations your pain imposes.
Pain Is Difficult to Measure Objectively
Dublin Social Security disability lawyers will tell you that due to the difficulty in measuring pain objectively, the SSA must seriously consider any limitations that a claimant reports which are consistent with medical and other objective evidence. Sometimes however, pain is not consistent with medical evidence.
For instance, arthritis and back pain may correlate poorly with symptoms. Therefore, your statements describing the persistence and intensity of your pain and how it affects your ability to work cannot be rejected by the decision maker just because they do not correlate with the medical evidence. Your credibility as well as the complete case record will be considered by the decision maker when deciding your case.
If you want to find out what you need to do to file a claim or have questions concerning your disability case, please contact the competent and knowledgeable Dublin Social Security disability lawyers at the law firm of Durden, Rice & Barfield, P.C. at (888) 705-8672.