Social Security Disability and Pain

When testifying about your disability in court, you should follow a certain protocol to ensure that the judge fully and accurately understands the nature of your disability and why it prevents you from working. The assistance of a qualified Macomb County Social Security disability attorney will prove invaluable as you prepare your testimony and evaluate which experiences and descriptions will best represent your case.

Measuring pain intensity

Judges in a disability hearing will want to understand the true intensity of your pain. To accomplish this, your Macomb County Social Security disability attorney will advise you on the use of the 1 to 10 pain scale. You may have used this scale when describing your pain to a doctor or therapist. On this scale, 1 represents the least intense pain you have experienced, and 10 is the absolute worst.

To do well in your hearing, it’s very important that you utilize this scale correctly and report your pain intensity accurately. The judge will assume that any pain registering at a 10 is going to be truly excruciating and debilitating, to the point where you may be unable to walk, you might be writhing in pain, lying prone in the fetal position, or generally losing the ability to function. This sort of pain would probably necessitate an emergency room visit or the careful observation of medical staff. Disability claimants who claim a great, frequent deal of level 10 pain may think they are proving how much they require assistance, but in reality they come off as dishonest. After all, how would you be able to speak in the hearing room while suffering from level 10 pain?

Other factors

You should also work with your attorney to note the frequency and length of your symptoms. Never use phrases like “I experience pain once in a while,” or “the pain appears occasionally.” These unclear descriptions will leave the judge with no choice but to make his or her own assumptions about the frequency of your pain, and that may turn out badly for your case. Give concrete examples of how often the pain appears in a given week, and how long or short the duration of your pain is.

Speak with experienced Macomb County Social Security disability attorneys, J.B. Bieske and Jennifer Alfonsi, Attorneys at Law, at (800) 331-3530 to learn how to effectively describe your pain, and to properly prepare your testimony for the hearing.