Social Security Disability for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in Michigan & Ohio

Your symptoms are an important part of your disability benefits claim. You’ll need medical evidence—from exams, medical tests, medical imaging and more—to show Social Security that your case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is severe.

When connective tissues in your body are getting attacked by EDS, it certainly can make it impossible to hold down a regular job.

Medical sources like the Mayo Clinic and others suggest that all of these are symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos that you could include in your case for benefits:

• Excessive flexibility in your joints
• Vulnerability to joint dislocations
• Joint pain
• Early-onset arthritis
• Skin that doesn’t heal well
• Weakened blood vessels and risk of rupture
• Weakened heart
• Fragile abdominal organs (intestines and uterus)
• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating

Joint weakness (called “hypermobile EDS”) is the most common form of the disorder, the Mayo Clinic said.

The type with blood vessel problems (“vascular EDS”) can be highly dangerous, as you know if you live with it. So you certainly can argue that you’re unable to function in a workplace setting.

You can find out more about what’s involved in applying for Social Security Disability benefits with EDS without any cost to you.

It’s free to contact the Levine Benjamin disability attorneys for an initial evaluation of your case.

The Social Security Administration’s official listing of impairments provides a road map of how to qualify for disability benefits with the medical conditions on the list.

Because Ehlers-Danlos syndrome isn’t on the list, your path to benefits and financial relief is more complicated.

But not impossible.

You can use other strategies to get benefits. One is to show how your case of Ehlers-Danlos is equivalent to a disease that does appear on Social Security’s list.

The conditions you could compare yourself to include cardiovascular disorders, digestive system disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, and visual impairments.

Another approach is to document how your case of EDS limits your everyday functioning and activities, even though it doesn’t exactly match a disorder on the impairments list. This is called getting a “medical-vocational allowance.”

To get a medical-vocational allowance, you’ll need a measure of what Social Security calls your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC.

Your RFC is the amount of work exertion you can handle. It includes your abilities in these areas:

• Standing for sustained periods
• Sitting for sustained periods
• Holding a crouching position
• Walking for extended times
• Reaching for objects
• Lifting objects
• Carrying objects
• Manipulating objects with your hands
• Pushing or pulling loads
• Remembering and applying information
• Processing instructions
• Cooperatively working with others

Your doctors can provide assessments of these points. Your Social Security Disability attorney can coordinate the effort, so you get the right evidence and information for your disability benefits application with EDS.

Levine Benjamin Law Firm has been helping people through this process for 60 years.

It might be time for us to help you. When your life has been altered by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, let’s pursue disability benefits that can protect your independence, stability and sense of well-being.