If your carpal tunnel syndrome is so severe that you’re losing the use of your hands—and you can’t do the work you rely on to make a living—Social Security Disability benefits could provide just the kind of financial break you need.
Monthly income and access to Medicare health coverage from disability benefits could help you get your life back on steady ground.
But is carpal tunnel a disability under the qualifications for Social Security Disability?
It’s complicated.
The core of getting disability benefits is proving that you have health problems that make it impossible to work.
Carpal tunnel syndrome often isn’t a clear-cut case that rules out working. It can be managed, treated and addressed medically.
Social Security keeps a long list of impairments that can qualify you for disability benefits. Carpal tunnel isn’t on it.
That means winning benefits with carpal tunnel involves a more complicated disability application that can include detailed breakdowns of the physical limitations created by your condition and documenting links between carpel tunnel and other impairments you may have.
You may need a Social Security Disability lawyer for this. Levine Benjamin Law Firm in Detroit has helped over 80,000 people in Michigan and Ohio—for over 55 years.
We deal with the Social Security Disability system, including complicated disability claims, all the time.
And getting a disability attorney costs you nothing up front. You pay no attorney fee until you win benefits.
So considering the financial assistance you could receive, there’s little risk in talking to our disability law firm about your situation.
In this blog post, we’ll look closer at what it takes to win disability benefits with carpel tunnel syndrome.
First, What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
You have a space inside your wrist called the carpal tunnel.
A nerve called the median nerve runs through this tube. That nerve delivers much of the sensation that you feel in your hand.
When you perform repetitive motions with your hands over a period of time, it can put pressure on your wrist, compressing your carpel tunnel and the median nerve inside it—and causing carpal tunnel syndrome.
Working long hours with vibrating tools, computer keyboards and other equipment and machinery can also contribute to carpal tunnel.
The condition can be exacerbated by arthritis, bone fractures, diabetes and inflammatory diseases.
Medical sources such as the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic say carpal tunnel syndrome causes numbness, tingling, hand weakness, electric shock sensations and difficulty gripping.
As many as four to 10 million Americans have carpal tunnel syndrome, according to the American College of Rheumatology. That makes it one of the most common nerve conditions.
How to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Michigan & Ohio
Every Social Security Disability claim requires this:
- Documentation confirming the seriousness and limiting nature of your medical conditions.
- Details of your job experience, so claims examiners can see how you wouldn’t be able to work considering your health problems.
But because carpel tunnel syndrome isn’t a qualifying disability on Social Security’s official list of impairments, a disability claim with carpel tunnel requires more.
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To apply for disability with carpel tunnel syndrome you may need:
- To document how your condition limits your daily life, using a measure called “residual functional capacity” or RFC.
- RFC is Social Security’s way of assessing your day-to-day ability to perform physical activities—regardless of your medical diagnosis.
- Determining your RFC will include medical testing of your carrying, gripping, lifting, fine motor and other skills that use your hands.
- You may also need to show how your carpel tunnel combines with other impairments to leave you unable to work.
- Possible other impairments that could apply to your claim are arthritis, diabetes, kidney disease, lupus, peripheral neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma.
So as far as Social Security is concerned, is carpal tunnel a disability?
Not always. But carpel tunnel is a disability when it is severe enough and when it is one of several ailments that leave you unable to work.
Experienced Social Security Disability attorneys know how to build a claim for carpal tunnel. They’ll know what you need for your claim, and what you don’t need.
It can be a lot of work, but a disability lawyer can do much of it for you, alleviating the load on you without costing you anything out of pocket.
At the Levine Benjamin disability law firm, you can get in touch with us, and we can give you a free evaluation of what it will take for you to win disability benefits with carpal tunnel.
There’s no reason to suffer and go without economic support that may be available to you.
