Filing a Social Security Disability (SSD) claim for neuropathy might lead to a denied claim. The Social Security Administration (SSA) denies a majority of SSD claims and neuropathy is a difficult medical condition to get the green light for financial assistance from the SSA.
This means that after you file the original claim, you should prepare to file an appeal for denied disability benefits. Hiring a Social Security is a good place to start for presenting a more compelling case the second time around.
Persuading the SSA to Overturn a Denied with Neuropathy Claim
The SSA publishes a guide called the Blue Book that lists every qualifying medical condition for disability benefits. Although peripheral neuropathy lists under Section 11.14 of the Blue Book, the medical condition does not represent a single disease.
Instead, it is nerve damage caused by one or more medical conditions. This is why neuropathy patients have trouble getting disability claims approved by the SSA.
With that in mind, it becomes the severity of neuropathy symptoms that matter. The more severe the symptoms are, the more likely you cannot work at your present job.
Numbness in the hands and feet can eventually become a serious issue because the numbness lasts for hours at a time.
Without feeling in your feet and hands, you are incapable of completing basic job functions. Another severe symptom of neuropathy is an intense burning or stabbing pain in the area of the body that has experienced nerve damage.
Submit Diagnostic Tests That Prove Severe Symptoms
How to appeal a neuropathy disability claim starts by undergoing additional diagnostic tests that prove you suffer from acute nerve damage.
Your physician might request your full medical history that includes any family history of suffering from nerve damage. The first diagnostic test should check your tendon reflexes, as well as the tone and strength of the muscles impacted by nerve damage.
Then, a series of blood, imaging, and nerve function tests can lead to a conclusive diagnosis of serious neuropathy. Imaging tests can detect tumors or herniated disks that frequently cause painful nerve damage.
Undergo Physical Tests
Although the results of diagnostic tests can lead to the SSA reversing your denied Social Security with neuropathy claim, completing a series of physical tests should be a part of your appeal as well.
A Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) assessment, which is conducted by a medical examiner from the SSA, determines how the symptoms of neuropathy have impacted your job performance.
With numbness in the hands and feet a persistent symptom, the medical examiner might ask you to hold objects in your hands and walk around a room for a few minutes.
You can also expect to go through physical exercises that highlight the area of the body where you have experienced nerve damage.
Next Steps to Take
Receiving a letter from the SSA that explains why the agency denied disability benefits should not stop you from appealing your case.
If you do not appeal your claim within a certain amount of time, you have to start the claim process all over. Hiring a Social Security lawyer ensures you meet every deadline established by the SSA.
However, your attorney is especially important when the time comes to collect and organize the medical documents you need to submit with the appeal.
Most Social Security lawyers get paid on a contingency fee basis, which gives them plenty of motivation to help clients win appeals for disability benefits.
