Nothing about living with a disability is easy. It’s exhausting to try to adapt to a new disability, and it can be painful and frustrating to live with one at the best of times.
At one point or another, you may want to seek disability. Social Security Disability Benefits help provide you with an income, so you can focus on your health and recovery. It’s a good way to have the necessities covered, so you can relax and focus on what it may take to help you heal or start on the path to a better standard of life with a disability you’ll have for the rest of yours.
To seek Social Security Disability, you will need to show a record of the injury and what you’ve done to try to heal and recover. This is your medical record of disability.
What do you need in a medical record of disability?
In your medical record of disability, you should include:
- Basic information, such as the date you became disabled, where it happened and how it happened
- Photographs or videos depicting your injury
- Medical references from providers who believe that you cannot work
- Medical scans and imaging
- Your diagnosis
Anything you can use to show that you are disabled is important in this record. Additionally, you may want to add items such as references from friends or colleagues who have seen how you changed, a detailed record of physical therapists or treatments you’ve tried and that did or did not have an impact on your injuries and other documents that you and your attorney believe will help your case.
How much documentation is too much documentation for your claim?
You cannot be too thorough when it comes to your medical records. The more literature you have for the Social Security Administration, the better your chances are of getting your Social Security Disability Benefits application approved the first time it’s submitted or approved upon appeal. Your attorney will work closely with you to make sure you have enough information in your documentation to support your claim and to satisfy the Social Security Administration’s requirements.