Can You Get Disability Benefits For Ankle Pain?

Ankle Pain and Disability

One of the most common injuries that can happen to the lower extremities is an ankle injury. The ankle is one of the busiest parts of the body as it assists in balance and motion of an individual and hence it is prone to many disease conditions and injuries. The extent to which an ankle is injured varies ranging from mild soreness to severe debilitating pain making you unable to walk or stand or carry out everyday chores around the house and be able to work effectively at the workplace. Ankle Pain can last for a few days to weeks depending on the injury but in some cases ankle pain becomes chronic and continues on for more than a year making mobility difficulty for an individual.

There may be many causes for Ankle Pain which may range from as simple as a twisting injury to as complex as osteoporosis or other inflammatory conditions. When the ankle pain does not subside and becomes chronic causing difficulties with activities of daily living like walking, standing, weight bearing etc that is when an individual can apply for Disability due to Ankle Pain.

To be quite frank, while an individual can get disability benefits for Ankle Pain, it is extremely difficult to get it. In order to qualify for Disability Benefits for Ankle Pain, the claimant will have to show that he or she is not gainfully employed under any category and that the claimant has a chronic medical condition which has not allowed the claimant to work for at least a year.

In order to prove this, the claimant will have to furnish exhaustive medical records from their treating physicians establishing a definitive diagnosis, the treatments rendered, and the prognosis along with any restrictions that the physicians might put on the claimant with regard to work.

Can You Get Disability Benefits For Ankle Pain?

When it comes to granting Social Security Disability Benefits for Ankle Pain, the SSA will look for medical records which will confirm the diagnosis for the claimant. The medical records should also show the treatments rendered to the claimant, the response of the treatment, and the overall prognosis. The SSA will also take a look at the radiological studies conducted in order to diagnose the cause of the Ankle Pain in the form of x-rays, MRIs, and other laboratory tests confirming that the claimant has a physical impairment because of which the claimant cannot be gainfully employed under any category.

Once the SSA goes through all the documents furnished by the claimant, it will then assess whether the impairment or functional limitations caused due to ankle pain is good enough to qualify for disability benefits or not. If the cause for the ankle pain is mentioned in the Blue Book which is a list of medical condition which qualifies for disability benefits then it becomes a bit easy to get Disability Benefits for Ankle Pain. If in case the cause of the ankle pain is not mentioned in the Blue Book then the claimant should have enough documented evidence proving that the claimant is not in a position to be employed and work in any category because of the Ankle Pain.

What are the Chances of Getting Social Security Disability Benefits Due to Ankle Pain?

As stated above, while one can get Disability Benefits for Ankle Pain it is extremely difficult unless the cause of the ankle pain is mentioned in the Blue Book of the SSA. The SSA will look at the documents submitted by the claimant starting right from the onset of pain up until the most recent followup.

The SSA will have their own physician who will go through the records and also evaluate the claimant to see if he or she is able to stand and walk around for a substantial amount of time with little or no discomfort, preferably for a period of 8 hours. The physician appointed by SSA will also take a look at the treatments given to the claimant thus far, the claimant’s response to the treatment, and whether the claimant has been compliant in following up with the physician. They will take a close look at the restrictions put by the physician on the claimant with regard to what he or she can or cannot do with regard to work.

The SSA will then conduct a Residual Functional capacity Evaluation or an RFC which will determine how does the ankle pain affect the activities of daily living, what are the likely job restrictions etc. After going through all this if it is proved that the claimant is under any circumstances unable to be gainfully employed in any category because of Ankle Pain then the claimant may be granted Disability Benefits due to Ankle Pain.

Why is it Important to Hire an SSD Attorney for Winning Disability Benefits for Ankle Pain?

Even if a claimant has enough documented evidence favoring his or her claim, if it is not presented in front of the judge in an appropriate way, the claimant may not be able to get the decision in his or her favor. For this, the claimant needs to hire an experienced disability attorney or an advocate who can prepare and present the claimant’s case in the best possible way so that disability insurance benefits for ankle pain is granted. The disability attorney is likely to have significant knowledge as to what the judge might require of the claimant during the hearing and what are the other relevant information that needs to be furnished in front of the judge at the time of hearing to win a disability claim for ankle pain. It should be noted here that an disability attorney or a lawyer gets paid only after the claimant has been granted disability benefit, thus the attorney does all he or she can to get the claimant disability benefits

Conclusion:

In summary, an individual with persistent ankle pain caused due to any condition whether it be medical or traumatic for at least a period of one year to the point where the claimant is not able to be gainfully employed to any significant degree and has enough credible evidence supporting his or her claim needs to work in close relationship with his or her treating physician and an experienced SSD attorney/lawyer so as to improve their chances of winning disability benefits for ankle pain.

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Can You Get Disability Benefits For Ankle Pain?

Ankle Pain and Disability