How to Apply for Disability Benefits with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

How to Apply for Disability Benefits with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

While Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) can be debilitating and prevent you from working, particularly when not diagnosed quickly. The SSA currently does not recognize CRPS in its manual of conditions that qualify for disability. That does not however mean that you cannot get Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits if your CRPS is so severe that it prevents you from working.

Qualifying Medically for SSD with CRPS

Proving disability with a chronic pain disorder can be challenging, but it is possible to be approved for disability benefits based on CRPS. The SSA typically requires extensive medical evidence to gain disability benefits, and a diagnosis of CRPS will require you have very specific evidence to support your claim for benefits.

The SSA will first need to establish that you have a “medically determinable impairment”. This simply means that the SSA needs to see medical evidence that clearly establishes an unbiased diagnosis of CRPS from a reputable, licensed physician. That evidence may include medical records that report the physical findings of any or all of the following symptoms that are often seen in CRPS:

1. Changes in texture, temperature, or color of your skin in the affected region
2. Swelling in the muscles in the affected area
3. Abnormal nail or hair growth
4. An increase in sweating, particularly in the sweat glands in the affected area

CRPS sometimes occurs after an injury or illness, especially those that include muscle or bone injuries. A preceding injury, if one exists in your case, must also be well documented in your medical record and should be reported by your treating physician as the precursory event.

CRPS can also cause osteoporosis for some patients. If this is true for you, your medical records must also include:

1. a thorough clinical history related to your osteoporosis
2. imaging scan results documenting the extent of the bone loss and any advancement of the condition.

There are two types of CRPS:

1. Type I – Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)
2. Type II – which was formally known as causalgia, but is now known simply as CRPS

The SSA considers both in the same manner, but CRPS is actually easier to prove, as it usually involves the presence of one or more nerve lesions that can be documented as a medically determinable cause of pain symptoms.

Pain symptoms of CRPS are the most debilitating part of the disease, and the SSA will evaluate those symptoms. However, physically apparent symptoms, like muscle wasting as well as those listed above, are crucial to being approved for benefits.

For more information on medically qualifying for disability benefits with CRPS, visit: http://www.disability-benefits-help.org/disabling-conditions/complex-regional-pain-syndrome

How to Prove Disability with CRPS

After the SSA establishes that you have a medically determinable impairment, they must assess the level of severity of your CRPS. Essentially, they need to see that your CRPS is so limiting that it prevents you from working. A residual functional capacity (RFC) evaluation is how this determination is made.

RFC looks at all your qualifications and balances those against the limitations your CRPS imposes on you. This give the SSA the ability to see if you are able to perform job related activities.

How to Financially Qualify for SSD

Two SSD benefits are potentially available to you: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Both have financial eligibility requirements of which you must be aware:

1. For SSI, you must have very limited financial resources, including income and assets.
2. For SSDI, you must have worked and paid Social Security taxes.

You can learn more about the different disability programs here: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/

How to Apply

When you apply for benefits, you will be considered for both SSDI and SSI. Your application will require you to provide:

1. detailed medical information,
2. financial data,
3. and work and education history details.

You should submit your medical records when you apply or not long after, and make sure your records and the details you provide on the SSA’s application forms match up.

Online application via the SSA’s website is usually the fastest method to apply, but you can also apply in person at your local SSA office with an appointment. You can file an online application here: http://www.ssa.gov/pgm/disability.htm

Article by Ram Meyyappan
Social Security Disability Help