Can I Receive Social Security Disability for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a condition involving swelling and pain in the wrist caused by pressure on nerves in the wrist. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is generally caused by repetitive motions such as typing, maneuvering hand controls, gripping machinery components, or grasping. This condition can affect your ability to type, write, grasp, handle, page, grip, feel, and reach. Generally, this condition does not appear on its own and usually goes hand in hand with a condition like arthritis, lupus, or diabetes.
How Does Social Security View Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
When Social Security looks at the severity of your condition to determine if you are medically eligible for the benefit or not, they look at two main criteria. The two main questions Social Security asks are whether your condition meets or equals a listing, or whether your condition affects your ability to do certain tasks so much that you can no longer perform any kind of work competitively.
Listings: Listings are 14 different types of conditions, that if you meet the exact criteria Social Security has set up, you will be considered medically eligible for Disability.
There is no specific listing for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which means that you and your attorney will have to focus on how your condition affects your ability to do any type of competitive work. If your case is extremely severe, and causes you to have nearly no feeling in your hands, you may be able to meet the listing for peripheral neuropathy, but this is uncommon.
Functional Ability:
If you do not meet the listing for a condition, or if a specific listing does not exist for your condition, you can still win your case if you show that you are unable to do any sort of competitive work due to your condition.
Many people are discouraged when they hear that their condition may not exactly meet a listing, and they think that their case has no shot, but this is not the case. Most people who are awarded benefits win by proving that their condition significantly limits their ability to function on a day-to-day basis.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Affecting Your Work:
To prove your case based on your functional ability you have to show that your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome keeps you from being able to perform any type of work on a full-time competitive basis. As discussed above, many times Carpal Tunnel Syndrome usually goes along with another condition such as diabetes, arthritis or lupus. If these other conditions affect your ability to stand, walk, lift, carry or bend (which they usually do), then Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can go a long way to getting you approved for Social Security Disability. This is because if your other conditions limit you to only being able to work in a seated position, your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome will most likely eliminate most jobs you can do sitting down. There are very few seated jobs that you can do without also being able to type, write, grasp, handle, page, or feel. Our attorneys will work with you and your doctor to show the judge why your Carpal Tunnel makes it impossible for you to work on a competitive basis.
Call our office today and see if you qualify:
While we provide the information above about Social Security Disability benefits so that you will better understand if you are eligible, the best way to check your eligibility is by calling our office and speaking to one of our client service representatives today. You may reach our office toll free at 1-800-488-4775.