If you have significant pain that affects your daily life and keeps you from working, you may be entitled to disability compensation. To support your case you will need to detail how this pain has diminished your lifestyle, what treatments you have sought, and the nature of the pain itself.
The pain may have affected your work; it may even have rendered you unable to continue at your job. Though this information is critical to your case, there are certain effects your pain might have that are important to recognize. You may be using a cane, brace, special chair, or apparatus to get in and out of the bathtub. Your sleep or eating habits may have been affected. Perhaps you are experiencing depression or anxiety. Note every way in which your daily life has been altered by your pain.
What treatment have you sought? Indicate doctors you have seen and their specializations. Include a list of medications they have prescribed, which, if any, helped, and any side effects that have occurred as a result of taking them. What other treatments did you try? These may include home remedies such as heating pads, hot baths, and ointments. You should also explain different ways of sitting, lying down, or standing you have tried. You may also have sought out less traditional professional treatments such as acupuncture, transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS unit), bio-feedback, massage therapy, or hypnosis.
You will also need to explain the nature of the pain itself. What area of the body does it seem to originate from? Does it move or spread? How often do you feel the pain? It is also important to rate the intensity of the pain, whether it diminishes, and if you experience throbbing or numbness. If you have determined what brings on the pain, or when it occurs (e.g. certain times of day, after specific activities), make sure to include this as well.
Proving Pain in Your Social Security Disability Claim