Minnesota Disability Benefits for RSD

Disability for RSD MN

Disability benefits for RSD are available from the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are unable to work. Disability for RSD can arise from several different risk factors. RSD can also cause several different serious complications that can serve as a basis for social security disability benefits.

Tips for Winning Disability Benefits for RSD

1. Acceptable Documentation: RSD / CRPS is a difficult to diagnose disorder and you may see many different doctors before getting a proper diagnosis. The SSA considers medically acceptable diagnosis and documentation for RSD from a rheumatologist as the strongest evidence.

Records and reports from hospitals, clinics, nurses and other treatment providers are also considered in the SSA evaluation but are typically not enough to establish a claimant’s disability for RSD without proper medical documentation and a diagnosis from an RSD specialist.

It is also very important to have documentation over an extended period of time. What Social Security refers to as “longitudinal evidence”. Because a person’s functional limitations from RSD can vary over time it is vital to have documentation over a sufficiently long period of time. In addition, since the symptoms of RSD can change and individuals can respond differently to treatment, it is important to have a sufficiently long enough period of treatment records to show your impairment.

2. RSDS/CRPS Testing: Even though there is no definitive test for RSD, objective testing is available that can help document your symptoms and also exclude other causes of your symptoms associated with RSD. This provides further evidence of your disability for RSD. It is important to remember that not all people will have findings on every test and results can be helpful in excluding other disorders.

• thermography (measures skin temperature)
• sympathetic nerve blocks (determine if it is sympathetically mediated pain)
• bone scans (identify changes in the bone and blood circulation)
• nerve conduction studies (find damage to the peripheral nervous system)

3. Non-medical Documentation: Documentation from family members, co-workers and others who have knowledge of your functional limitations due to RSD can also be helpful in providing information regarding activities of daily living and work limitations.

4. Social Security (SSA) Diagnostic Criteria: It is very important to have documentation from a doctor familiar with RSD / CRPS who can make a diagnosis based on criteria set out by the 2003 SSA ruling Evaluating Cases Involving Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome / Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Since RSD/CRPS is not a listed SSA impairment you need to either equal an impairment listing or prove limited functional capacity.

When Social Security evaluates RSDS/CRPS they look for persistent pain complaints that are out of proportion to the severity of the injury and one of more of the following documented signs in the affected area:

• swelling
• changes in skin color or texture, changes in sweating, changes in skin temperature, and abnormal pilomotor erection (goose bumps)
• abnormal hair or nail growth
• osteoporosis
• involuntary movements of the affected region of the initial injury

5. Loss of Function Evidence: This is probably the most important factor Social Security uses to determine your disability benefits for RSD. Regardless of the cause of your RSD impairment, functional loss refers to an inability to walk effectively on a sustained basis, or inability to perform fine and gross movements effectively on a sustained basis. The SSA is more concerned with how your RSD affects and limits your ability to work rather than the fact you were diagnosed with RSD. The key is documentation describing your pain over an extended period of time with specific examples of how your pain limits your ability to function.

Detailed information about your activities of daily living and functional limitations is very helpful in documenting your disability for RSD. This is an area that many claimants neglect and leads to denials for their case. Claimants should complete what are referred to as residual functional capacity (RFC) forms.

Residual Functional Capacity Forms (RFC): Residual functional capacity forms can also provide strong evidence for Social Security when they are evaluating your claim of disability benefits for RSD. At the initial, reconsideration or CDR level, the SSA will do an RFC assessment.

However, you can have your own treating doctor (preferably an RSD specialist) fill out a residual functional capacity form. This form can then be used to show the functional limitations caused by your RSD. A lawyer at Fields Law Firm can help you create RFC forms for your RSD doctor to fill out.

6. Medication Side-Effects: This is another overlooked factor that can provide additional evidence of your disability for RSD / CRPS. Many people who suffer from reflex sympathetic dystrophy have to take very strong pain medication to manage their symptoms. Side-effects of pain medication can interfere with a claimant’s daily activities. Documentation of any adverse effects (with specific examples) is important because it provides additional evidence of the severity of your RSD and will be included in Social Security’s assessment of your residual functional capacity.

7. Combination of Impairments: RSD can affect almost every area of the body, especially in later stages of the disorder. It is important to have documentation and present evidence of your combination of impairments caused by RSD. An example would be a claimant diagnosed with RSD who also suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and depression that affects their ability to do normal everyday activities because of chronic pain and fatigue.

You need to provide documentation of multiple complications from your RSD along with other disorders and disease such as diabetes or depression. If you then argue that the combination of impairments prevents you from normal activities of daily living you will have a much stronger argument that you are disabled.

Fields Law disability for RSD lawyers will assist you in getting the medical tests you need to document your disability for RSD. We can also help you find a doctor that is familiar with treating RSD / CRPS patients. If you are unable to work because of RSD we can help you apply for social security disability benefits for RSD. If you have been denied disability benefits we can appeal your case.

We offer a Free case review. Our Minnesota disability lawyers understand how frustrating it is to have reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome and be denied disability benefits for RSD / CRPS when you are unable to work. There are never any fees unless we win your disability case.