As disfiguring and life-altering as your burns may be, having them may not automatically qualify you to receive Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. Your file’s reviewer will instead want to know more about any other conditions you may have, your long-term prognosis and how all this may impact your ability to work before deciding to approve your application for benefits.
What will your disability case reviewer look for when looking over your application?
One of the first things that the reviewer assigned to review your file will look for is whether you have extensive skin lesions. These can cover a significant portion of your body or merely critical areas such as those that limit your movement. They’ll be particularly curious to see if any affect the joints along your upper or lower extremities.
Your reviewer will also want to see if you appear to have any lesions on your hands that may significantly disrupt your ability to utilize fine and gross motor skills. They may also review your medical records to see if it references you having lesions along the perineum or inguinal areas or on your feet, as these may all affect your ability to stand or walk.
It’s not uncommon for burn victims to suffer flare-ups resulting in extensive skin lesions. These may require you to take extended time off from work, affecting your ability to maintain a job.
The good news is that skin lesions typically respond quite well to treatment. A patient’s degree of responsiveness to treatment can vary widely, though. You may also experience side effects from the treatment that you receive. Doctors will often ask their burn injury patients to document what benefits they derived by undergoing treatment and about the side effects that they endured and use that information to determine how long they should continue pursuing one treatment option versus another.
What you can do if you’re suffering from disabling skin lesions
While there’s never a guarantee that anyone will qualify to receive SSD, you can enhance your chances of doing so by clearly documenting the symptoms and limitations you experience. An attorney can help you document the severity of your burn injuries and any other illnesses or impairments so that you have the best chance of getting your application approved here in Oklahoma City.