How Does the Social Security Administration Evaluate Pain?

So, how does the Social Security Administration evaluate pain when deciding if you are disabled, after all, you can’t see pain.  There is no test for pain.  The Administration will not, as you can imagine, just take the claimant’s word for it that he/she is in pain. So how do they do it?  First they want to know all about your disabilities. John P. Young, your Indiana Social Security Disability Lawyer, recommends that you tell the Administration about each one of the disabling conditions you have, even if you might think it is not that important, when you first apply.  Also give the administration the name address and telephone number of each one of your doctors, and of the hospitals you have visited.  This gives the SSA the chance to obtain all your medical records, and thus know everything about your disability.  It is crucial that you see medical doctors and have your disabilities documented.  The SSA will never find you disabled if you have no documentation to support your claim.  Next make sure you provide the SSA a list of all your medications, what you take them for and the side effects they cause.  This is very important, because if the doctor thinks you have a condition that requires serious medications to treat, that gives your pain complaints believability.

The SSA looks at your medical records to see what disabilities are documented.  They look at your list of medications to see what treatment you are receiving.  They then look to see what kinds of symptoms your disability is likely to cause. They look at your testimony to see if your pain complaints are consistent with the pain complaints they would expect to hear from a patient with those disabilities.  If your pain complaints are not consistent with what is expected, you will lose credibility.  If your pain complaints are more severe than what is expected of a person with your disability, you lose credibility.  If you lose credibility, you are less likely to be granted benefits.  That is why it is very important to be strictly honest with your doctors and the SSA.

John P. Young, Your Indiana Social Security Disability Lawyer, knows from 22 years experience how to properly present you claim to the Administration in order to give you the best chance to win.  John does this with personal service.  John will go to your hearing with you, no assistants will ever be asked to go in his place.  Call John P. Young, your Indiana Social Security Disability Lawyer, today.