In the year 2016, 50 million U.S. adults reported dealing with chronic pain and 19.6 million reported high-impact chronic pain. Chronic pain is a continuous physical pain that lasts years after the injury has healed. This condition is thought to be psychological but is often treated with medications. High-impact chronic pain is severe enough to prevent a person from participating in life activities like work or school. If you are struggling with work because of your chronic pain, do not hesitate to contact a Pennsylvania individual disability insurance lawyer.

Symptoms and Treatments for Chronic Pain

Symptoms of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain can start with the same types of pain. These types of pain vary based on what injury, illness, or infection the person had before the pain changed from acute to chronic. Headaches, back pain, arthritis pain, pain from cancer, and nerve damage can all lead to chronic pain.

People commonly describe the pain itself as soreness, stiffness, stinging, burning, throbbing, or shooting. Dealing with any one of these feelings of pain can make falling and staying asleep difficult. This can lead to sleep disorders like insomnia, which is also tied with the onset of depression, anxiety, and anger from frustration. These can negatively impact all areas of life like work, social relationships, and raising a family.

Medication can be used to manage pain for a certain period of time, but this may not be enough for certain people. Your doctor may also order different types of therapy like physical therapy, low-impact exercise, behavioral therapy, or occupational therapy. Insurance companies may cover certain prescription medications, but they may only cover a few sessions of therapy.

Challenge of Applying for Disability Benefits

Dealing with chronic pain can put you in a bind between obligations. You may be experiencing trouble at your job because your pain is hindering your usual performance. Maybe your doctor prescribed therapy, but you stopped going after your insurance company stopped covering future sessions. This has probably led you to some serious financial concerns.

Either you pay for future therapy sessions yourself with the risk that they could work and you could keep your job, or you could lose your job because the treatment failed. The latter possibility leaves you with less money, no job, and chronic pain. However, the third possibility is that you apply for Disability Insurance and if they deny you benefits, you talk to a lawyer.

Disability insurance offers programs that can pay you a certain amount of money each month as a source of income for housing, food, and other basic necessities. They may also allow you to continue your job by making changes to your job position.

Disability Lawyer in Pennsylvania

An experienced Pennsylvania disability lawyer has the training to figure out why your disability benefits application was denied. We will collect the evidence, medical records, and other documents you need to prove your need for disability benefits. Chronic pain does not always fit their category of a disability, but by examining your medical records, we may be able to find where you fit their requirements. Call Edelstein & Nelson at (800) 300-0909 for a consultation today.