Can I get disability benefits if I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)?
To qualify for disability benefits, you need to meet two main requirements:
Financial Requirements: You must have worked long enough and recently enough, and your income should not be above a certain limit.
Medical Requirements: Social Security recognizes that CRPS can be disabling, but it’s not listed specifically in the Social Security “Blue Book” of conditions. This means that just having a CRPS diagnosis isn’t enough to get disability benefits.
However, if you can show that your symptoms make it hard or impossible for you to work, and you have strong medical records, there’s a good chance you could qualify.
When applying for disability benefits with the help of your Social Security attorneys, you should include the following information:
- Medical records showing you’ve been getting ongoing treatment for CRPS
- Doctor’s notes explaining your condition and how it limits your ability to work
- Details about the medications you’ve been prescribed and how they’ve worked for you
- Information about the treatments you’ve had and how well they worked
- Whether your symptoms have stayed the same, gotten better, or gotten worse over time
What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)?
CRPS is a rare condition that affects about 200,000 people in the U.S. every year. It causes ongoing pain that’s much worse than what would be expected from an injury, like a sprain or surgery.
CRPS can happen after things like a stroke, surgery, broken bones, or even burns. The pain often affects the arm or leg, but can happen anywhere, and it can make daily tasks very difficult.
If you’re dealing with CRPS, you may be eligible for disability benefits to help manage the condition’s effects.
How to qualify for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)?
CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) can get better with time in most cases. However, in other scenarios, the pain can become long-lasting and disabling.
Social Security understands that CRPS can be disabling. However, its official guide doesn’t have a specific category for it.
If you want to get disability benefits, you’ll need more proof than just a diagnosis of CRPS. Ask your disability representative to help.
You must show that your symptoms are stopping you from going to work. If you have a strong medical record to support your claim, Social Security might approve it.
Social Security makes decisions depending on medical evidence. However, they can ask you to see a Social Security doctor for an exam.
Your medical records should also show that you have ongoing pain. It’s making it hard to move the affected body part.
The pain should be connected to other signs, like –
- swelling,
- changes in skin color or texture,
- problems with sweating,
- changes in skin temperature,
- bone thinning (osteoporosis), or
- Involuntary movements in the area where the injury happened.
Your treatment history and doctors’ opinions in this case are very important.
Social Security uses your medical records and your doctor’s opinion to assess your ability to work. This is called a residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment.
It helps Social Security decide if you can do your previous job or any other job, considering factors like whether you can drive, your age, and your education level.
You should ask your doctor to write a statement that explains your limitations and what activities you can’t do. For example, because of CRPS, your restrictions might include:
- Walking or standing for no more than 4 hours a day
- Stooping, crouching, crawling, kneeling, or bending only occasionally
- Lifting and carrying no more than 20 lbs. occasionally (about 1/3 of the workday) or 10 lbs. frequently (about 2/3 of the workday)
- Limited ability to focus or work at a good pace
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