Disability for Back Problems. What Social Security looks for.

Two ways to qualify

Meeting a listing. Social Security’s listings for the spine cover disorders that compromise a nerve root and lumbar spinal stenosis that compromises the cauda equina. They require specific findings on imaging and examination, and in many cases a documented need for a walker, two canes, or similar device. Few claimants meet them.

Residual functional capacity. Most back claims are decided this way. Social Security decides how long you can sit, stand, and walk, how much you can lift, and how often you need to change position. It then asks whether any jobs fit those limits.

Evidence that matters

• MRI, CT, or X-ray reports.
• Examination findings: reduced range of motion, positive straight-leg raising, weakness, numbness, reflex changes.
• Treatment history: physical therapy, injections, medication, surgery, and how you responded.
• Any prescribed cane, walker, or brace.
• A treating doctor’s opinion on sitting, standing, walking, lifting, and time off task.

Ask your doctor to complete the spine form in our free doctor forms. It asks the questions a judge needs answered.

Why back claims are denied

• The file shows pain complaints but few objective findings.
• Treatment stopped, or was limited to medication refills.
• No doctor has put work limits in writing.
• The examiner found you could do sedentary work.

Age changes the result

A finding that you can do sedentary work is not the end of the case if you are 50 or older. Under Social Security’s grid rules, a person limited to sedentary work at 50, or light work at 55, may be found disabled depending on education and past work. Many back claims are won this way.

Pain and other symptoms

Social Security must consider pain, but it looks for consistency: what you tell your doctors, what you do day to day, and what treatment you have tried. Describe your limits the same way to every provider.

Next steps

If you have been denied, you have 60 days to appeal. See what to do after a denial in Arizona, SSDI in Arizona, and what conditions qualify. There is no fee unless benefits are awarded.

J Disability Law Firm, PLLC · Joseph J. Duerst, Attorney · 18444 N. 25th Ave, Suite 420, Phoenix, AZ 85023 · (602) 607-0000. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past results do not predict the outcome of your case.