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Degenerative disc disease is exactly what its name implies: a deteriorating, or degenerative, condition involving the discs of either the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine. Conditions such as spinal stenosis, osteophytes (bone spurs), disc herniation, and "ruptured disc" which, inevitably, may involve therapy, prescription medication, or surgical intervention, typically refer to degenerative disc disease. DDD (the acronym for this condition) generally occurs as people get older, and very often individuals over the age of forty are affected to some degree with this degenerative condition. What causes degenerative disc disease? Essentially, the spongy discs that are interlaced throughout the spine, and which serve as shock absorbers for the vertebrae, begin to wear out, losing moisture and resilience. However, degenerative disc disease can be the end result of one, or several, back injuries as well. Since a great many manual activities, and occupations, necessitate the occasional use of the lower back as a fulcrum for lifting, lumbar disc disease is typically more prevalent in occurrence. However, cervical degenerative disc disease is also frequently diagnosed, perhaps more often for sedentary workers. Treatments for this condition may include physical therapy, prescription medication, and surgery. Specific surgical interventions may include a laminectomy, discectomy, or fusion. In Social Security Disability 's Listing of Impairments manual there is a specific section for degenerative disc disease. The section is 1.04, Disorders of the spine, and it includes osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, herniated nucleus pulposus, spinal arachnoiditis, and, of course, degenerative disc disease. However, despite the many disability claims referencing this impairment, it is not an easy one to win cases on, especially for individuals younger than fifty (and particularly for individuals under the age of forty) Exactly how does Social Security Disability view Degenerative Disc Disease? As with every claim for disability, after a person files their claim at the Social Security Office, their case is transferred to Disability Determination Services, the agency responsible for making decisions on Disability cases. When a case arrives at DDS, it is assigned to a specialist, or Examiner, who orders medical records and uses these records to make a determination. In other words, approve a disability claim, or deny it. Generally, the various DDS offices around the country tend to be very dismissive of cases involving back pain---so dismissive, in fact, that Social Security has been sued over the matter of not properly addressing a claimant's pain. Unfortunately, today, the disability system still does not adequately address back pain and the effect that back pain can have on an individual's ability to persist at a job. in many cases, Social Security Disability will expect an individual who has performed work of a certain exertional level to go back to that same job, or to a job where the exertional requirements are similar. Naturally, this implies a denial of a claimant's disability claim. This often means that the person who performed medium-level work in the past (medium exertion is defined as the ability to lift 50 lbs occasionally and 25 lbs frequently) is expected to return to such work. Obviously, the Social Security Administration's position on back cases and back pain is unfair and not at all realistic. Anyone who has ever experienced severe and continuous back pain (myself included) knows how debilitating the effect can be. And anyone in perfect health who has ever picked up a fifty pound weight knows how very heavy that weight is. But this is one of the fundamental problems regarding impairments that involve pain: only the person experiencing the pain can actually know how bad it is, and the degree to which it affects them. For this reason---and because Disability Examiners give little consideration to complaints of pain---medical records become that much more important in cases involving back conditions. What does Social Security look for in Degenerative Disc Disease cases? When an Examiner opens a newly assigned file and sees either disc herniation, back pain, lumbar problems, spinal stenosis, degenerative joint disease, degenerative disc disease, or the acronym DJD (which stands for degenerative joint disease) they begin to look for the following evidence (once they have in hand, of course, the records they've requested from a claimant's treatment sources): 1. Physician treatment notes indicating one of these diagnoses. 2. Objective evidence of disc deterioration such as xray reports, CAT scans, and MRI studies. The significance of medical evidence in DJD cases Interpretations of imaging studies (e.g., a doctor reads an xray film and gives an opinion as to its meaning) are extremely important since xrays, CAT scans, and MRI's are the only purely objective evidence that will come into play in a disability case involving back problems. In other words, while a physician can easily diagnose degenerative disc disease based on a patient's symptom's, without the imaging studies there will be no way to prove the extent to which the condition exists. For this reason, disabilty claimants should always follow through on appointments for xrays and the like. Additionally, Disability Examiners look for certain other indications, in the notes recorded by a claimant's treating physician, regarding decreased range of motion, reduced muscular strength (doctors use a five point scale; for example, 5/5 right leg strength indicates full right leg strength while 1/5 indicates severely diminished right leg strength), poor gait, and positive straight leg raises. Obviously, just as crucial as it is in a disc disease case to have the necessary imaging studies performed, it is also crucial to be followed closely by a physician, particulary an orthopedist. Getting regular medical treatment can help ensure that, when the time comes, sufficient medical records exist to substantiate a disability claim for a back condition. Home The Truth Claim Process About Us FAQ Contact Us Privacy Policy |