Disability for Musculoskeletal Diseases in Detroit

While musculoskeletal diseases are a leading cause of disability in the United States, they come in many forms and levels of severity.

For your Social Security disability application, you need to prove your particular condition is bad enough that you can’t find any way to keep working.

These conditions impact your muscles, bones, and joints. They can hinder your ability to move because of pain in the hips, knees or back.

To win disability benefits, you’ll need medical evidence showing how your type of musculoskeletal disease prevents you from doing the type of work you’ve done on the past — or anything else you’re qualified for.

The Social Security Administration maintains a list of impairments that can qualify you for disability benefits, called its “Blue Book.”

Numerous musculoskeletal problems are on the list. Others are not specifically named, which could mean you’ll need extra effort to prove that your case warrants disability benefits.

Social Security puts musculoskeletal diseases into three classifications:

1. Joint Problems — If moving your joints causes you severe pain, you may be unable to work. Examples include degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis, and shoulder or hip problems.
2. Bone Problems — Bone issues can cause mobility problems and significant pain. Examples include problems resulting from amputations, bone spurs, and fractures.
3. Muscle Problems —If your muscles are damaged, your mobility and strength are hurt. Examples include carpal tunnel syndrome, whiplash and muscular dystrophy.

Conditions in this range of impairments include all of these and more:

• Back pain
• Bone spurs
• Bursitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Club foot deformity
• Degenerative disc disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Fractures
• Gout
• Hernias
• Herniated discs
• Inflammatory arthritis
• Joint pain
• Nerve root compression
• Muscular dystrophy
• Neck pain and other neck problems
• Osteoarthritis
• Paralysis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Ruptured discs
• Scoliosis
• Shoulder pain and other shoulder problems
• Spina bifida
• Spine disorders
• Torn ACLs
• Whiplash

Because Social Security disability benefits are based on the requirement that your health problems must be serious enough that you can’t work for at least a year, medical evidence is the foundation of your case.

This evidence comes from records from doctors and other health care providers you’ve seen.

The key form of this evidence is “objective medical evidence,” such as test results and reports from doctors.

Some information from non-medical sources can also help your case, such as testimony from relatives, coworkers and others about how your condition affects your daily life.

Social Security has thousands of rules for awarding disability benefits.

An experienced disability lawyer knows the system and navigates it for you, avoiding mistakes that cause delays so you can focus on taking care of yourself.

Levine Benjamin has helped over 80,000 people win benefits since 1964.

You PAY NO FEE unless you win. And we’ll evaluate your case for free.

From applying to appealing, we help you every step of the way.