You’ve been struggling with a disabling condition for quite some time now – and one of the primary symptoms that you have is chronic pain.
While pain can be extremely limiting and affect your ability to ambulate, sleep or even think clearly, it’s not something that shows up on objective medical tests. In fact, pain is a very subjective experience. The kind of pain that you might rate a “4 out of ten” could easily be someone else’s “7 or 8” on the same scale.
When you want to file for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits, however, you want the claims examiner to take your pain into consideration. That means making sure that your pain is properly documented.
2 tips for making pain count on your SSD claim
If you want your pain to be evaluated as part of your disability claim, you need to make sure that it’s documented in a clear way. This generally means:
- Telling your doctors at every visit about your pain, including how it feels to you, how it varies and how it limits you in your work and daily routine. Your doctor will take note, and that will make your pain part of your official record.
- Keeping a pain diary and taking it to your appointments, so that it can be copied into your chart. A pain diary can be useful to help you figure out what triggers your pain and what calms it down. When you ask your doctor to copy the pages and add it to your medical files, it also adds veracity to your claims.
Filing for Social Security Disability benefits can be a frustrating experience, and unfair denials are common. Learn more about what it takes to overcome a denial and get the benefits you need.