If you have symptoms such as pain that do not allow you to keep working, you might turn to Social Security Disability as a solution. The Social Security Administration will evaluate your condition to see if you qualify for disability benefits. To help your application succeed, consider how to present proper evidence of how your condition affects you.
Social Security provides some information to show applicants what they look for in medical evidence when evaluating a disability application.
Descriptions of your symptoms
Social Security wants as complete a picture of your pain or other effects as possible to know how the symptoms affect your life. The evidence you provide should include the following:
- The location of your symptoms
- How long the symptoms last
- The frequency of your symptoms
- The intensity of any pain you feel
- Factors that trigger or aggravate your symptoms
In addition to these descriptions, you can also detail your daily activities and explain how your symptoms interfere with your ability to carry them out.
Treatments used on your symptoms
Social Security will also pay attention to how any medication you take affects you, whether it relieves your symptoms, and any side effects you experience. You can also describe other treatments you use or any other methods you have tried in order to diminish the impact of your symptoms.
Your functional impairments
Your evidence should not leave out other effects of your symptoms that limit your ability to function. Consider describing any factor related to your condition even if it does not relate to your medication or other treatments.
Your medical sources should be able to describe all of the aforementioned aspects of your condition. Still, checking over your medical reports before you send them to Social Security may help you understand if you have to fill in any gaps in the descriptions of your symptoms.
