It is possible to get Social Security benefits for a sitting disability. Sitting disabilities are more than the simple ability to sit. Several medical conditions that can cause difficulty sitting are back injuries, sciatica, and piriformis syndrome.

In addition to the most common medical issues that Social Security recognizes for sitting disabilities, here are some of the lesser known causes:

• Coccydynia. This pain is characterized by pain that occurs in and around the tailbone. Most often, there is no known cause, although you’ll sometimes hear of teenagers complaining about this pain. At their age, it’s something they grow out of. In adults, it is sometimes related to trauma, infection, fractures, or hyper-mobility of the tailbone joint. Symptoms include pain during bowel movements, intercourse, sitting for long periods, and when moving from a sitting to standing position. Coccydynia is frequently medically treatable, but in rare cases, removal of the tailbone is necessary; and the pain continues.
• Myofascial pain syndrome. This chronic pain involved contraction of the muscles, whereby muscles “knot up” painful bundles of muscle fiber. Sitting can cause these trigger points to flare up. Myofascial pain syndrome can be treated with medications such as antidepressants, over the counter pain medication, and physical therapy.
• Pudendal neuralgia. Pudendal neuralgia affects the nerve that runs through the genitals, urethra, anus, and perineum and causes pain throughout the reproductive organ regions of the body, particularly while sitting. Both men and women are susceptible to this pain. Medication, surgery, and physical therapy can be effective in treating this condition.

Getting Legal Help

Taylor, Warren, and Weidner is committed to giving individuals dealing with injuries, or facing life-threatening or lifestyle-challenging situations, a voice. Call us today at 866-483-4899 or email us at kweidner@twwlawfirm.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve.

Coronary artery disease, or CAD, is also known as ischemic heart disease, and the disease can become debilitating enough that you may qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits.

CAD is caused by the build-up of plaque, or fatty deposits, inside the coronary arteries, which is known as atherosclerosis. The coronary arteries are the arteries which supply the heart with blood so the heart can work.  As plaque builds up, it causes the arteries to narrow and harden. The decrease in elasticity of the vessels does not allow them to expand and move blood that supplies oxygen to the heart muscle. The most common symptoms of coronary artery disease are chest pain or discomfort (angina) and shortness of breath. In severe cases, coronary heart disease can cause a heart attack (myocardial infarction), especially when the workload of the heart increases during exertion. The workload of the heart surpasses the amount of blood that can be delivered due to the decreased blood flow caused by CAD.

How to Qualify for Disability Benefits With Coronary Heart Disease

To qualify for disability benefits for coronary artery disease, you will have to either meet the standards set forth by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in the SSA's listing for ischemic heart disease or demonstrate that your heart condition has so reduced your functional capacity that you cannot work.

The Symptoms Required in Order to Qualify for Disability:

Listing 4.04 states that you must have symptoms due to "myocardial ischemia," such as one of the following:

• angina pectoris -- which is chest discomfort that is caused by activity or emotion, and quickly relieved by rest or fast acting medication, such as nitroglycerin tablets;
• atypical angina --  pain or discomfort located in places other than the chest, such as the inner left arm, jaw, neck, back and upper abdomen;
• "anginal equivalent" -- shortness of breath on exertion, but with no complaints of chest pain or discomfort
• variant angina -- episodes of angina at rest due to spasm of a coronary artery, as evidenced by your heart’s rhythm on an EEG, or
• silent ischemia -- the occurrence of myocardial ischemia or myocardial infarction without any pain or other symptoms.

In addition to the symptoms described above, Listing 4.04 also requires that you have one of the following -- an abnormal stress test, ischemic episodes, or abnormal imaging results.

Reduced Functional Capacity Due to Coronary Heart Disease

If you do not meet the requirements for coronary heart disease described above, you might still be eligible for disability benefits. The SSA must consider whether your heart impairment has reduced your capacity to work. If the SSA determines that you are unable to perform your past job or any other job because of CAD, you may be entitled to benefits.

Getting Legal Help

Taylor, Warren, and Weidner is committed to giving individuals dealing with injuries, or facing life-threatening or lifestyle-challenging situations, a voice. Call us today at 866-483-4899 or email us at kweidner@twwlawfirm.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve.

When you file a claim for Social Security Disability Benefits, the agency will first determine if you are disabled. After proving disability, the agency will consider your past work and the duration of your work to qualify you for benefits, referred to as “earnings test.”

The “recent work” test is based on the age of the applicant at the time of the disability, which will determine how long the applicant needs to have worked in order to qualify. The “duration of work” test proves that the applicant worked and paid Social Security taxes for a long enough period of time to qualify. Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit (SSDI) eligibility is based on “work quarters”, or three-month periods during which the applicant needs to have worked.  SSDI is very similar to an insurance policy except premiums are paid by the employee’s taw withholdings instead.

In general, however, once the disability is determined, an applicant needs to have worked 20 quarters of coverage out of the last 40, or five out of the last 10 years. Applicants need a specific amount of “credits” in order to establish eligibility for disability.  SSDI is only for people who had a steady work record who later becomes to sick or injured to work any longer.

In 2013, for a quarter to count toward SSDI benefits, the applicant needs to have earned at least $1,160 in a three-month period. Persons younger than 24 need to have worked six quarters over three years, and those between the ages of 24 and 30 need credit for half the time for the period beginning with the quarter after turning 21 and ending with the quarter in which you became disabled. In other words, if you are 29, you would need to work four of the eight years between 21 and 29, ending in the quarter that you became disabled.

The calculations for disability benefits can be confusing, but the good news is the staff at Taylor, Warren, and Weidner is waiting to help you.

Getting Legal Help

Taylor, Warren, and Weidner is committed to giving individuals dealing with injuries, or facing life-threatening or lifestyle-challenging situations, a voice. Call us today at 866-483-4899 or email us at kweidner@twwlawfirm.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve.

One of the more difficult aspects of acquiring disability benefits for multiple sclerosis (MS) is that to qualify for disability, Social Security requires the condition to last, or be expected last, 12 months. MS is a tricky illness. There are often periods of remission and exacerbation, which vary in length. The staff at Taylor, Warren, and Weidner  advise clients not to worry; Social Security recognizes that the nature of MS is a cycle of readmission and exacerbation, and the agency will evaluate your particular course of MS, to determine if you are disabled.

Under Social Security’s blue book listing for multiple sclerosis, your records must show that you have one of the following:

• Difficulty walking or using your hands because of significant impairments of at least two limbs. You might have partial paralysis of your limbs, tremors, or involuntary movements;
• Severe decrease in vision that cannot be corrected with glasses;
• An organic mental disorder causing memory loss, a decrease in IQ, or disturbance in mood; or
• Severe fatigue and muscle weakness caused by the central nervous system as a result of MS.

In addition to qualifying under the specific MS listing, individuals who suffer from MS may also qualify under other listings if other body systems have been affected by the disease. The Disability Professionals at Taylor, Warren & Weidner have worked with MS clients in the past and know what evidence the Social Security Administration looks for MS.

Diagnostic Evidence Required for MS Disability

Social Security Disability will examine the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of your brain, which is the test that gives positive proof of demyelination caused by multiple sclerosis. An MRI will detect even the smallest evidence of demyelination or plaque. Typically 96 percent of those individuals diagnosed with MS have an abnormal MRI result.

Another test used to help with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is the spinal tap or lumbar puncture. This test is about 85 percent effective in MS cases.

Getting Legal Help

Taylor, Warren, and Weidner is committed to giving individuals dealing with injuries, or facing life-threatening or lifestyle-challenging situations, a voice. Call us today at 866-483-4899 or email us at kweidner@twwlawfirm.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve.