Applying For Disability With Dystonia
By Chris Sharry on February 15th, 2016 in Disability Applying
Dystonia is a movement disorder in which your muscles contract involuntarily causing repetetive or twisting movements. Generalized dystonia usually develops during childhood and may eventually affect the entire body. Focal dystonia can affect one part of your body while segmented dystonia may affect two or more adjacent parts. The exact cause is unknown and there is no current cure for dystonia.
Dystonia affects different people in varying ways. Muscle contractions might:
- Begin in a single area, such as your leg, neck or arm. Focal dystonia that begins after age 21 usually starts in the neck, arm or face and tends to remain focal or segmental.
- Occur during a specific action, such as handwriting.
- Worsen with stress, fatigue or anxiety.
- Become more noticeable over time.
Areas of the body that can be affected include:
- Neck (cervical dystonia). Contractions cause your head to twist and turn to one side, or pull forward or backward, sometimes causing pain.
- Eyelids. Rapid blinking or involuntary spasms causing your eyes to close (blepharospasms) can make you functionally blind. Spasms usually aren’t painful, but might increase when you’re in bright light, under stress or interacting with people. Your eyes might feel dry.
- Jaw or tongue (oromandibular dystonia). You might experience slurred speech, drooling, and difficulty chewing or swallowing. Oromandibular dystonia can be painful and often occurs in combination with cervical dystonia or blepharospasms.
- Voice box and vocal cords (spasmodic dystonia). You might have a tight or whispering voice.
- Hand and forearm. Some types of dystonia occur only while you do a repetitive activity, such as writing (writer’s dystonia) or playing a specific musical instrument (musician’s dystonia).
Dystonia is caused by damage to the basal ganglia. The damage could be the result of:
- Brain trauma
- Stroke
- Tumor
- Oxygen deprivation
- Infection
- Drug reactions
- Poisoning caused by lead or carbon monoxide
You may meet the criteria for disability if you meet the requirements of one of Social Security’s official disability listings. Social Security publishes the criteria for a number of common illnesses to qualify for disability, and if you meet the criteria for your particular condition, you automatically qualify for benefits. Although Social Security does not have a specific listing for dystonia, the listing for Parkinson’s disease has symptoms similar to dystonia and should be reviewed as part of your application process.
The listing for Parkinson’s disease is 11.06:
11.06 Parkinsonian syndrome with the following signs: Significant rigidity, bradykinesia, or tremor in two extremities, which, singly or in combination, result in sustained disturbance of gross and dexterous movements, or gait and station.
If you do not meet or equal the above listing, you can still qualify for disability benefits if the impairment prevents you from doing your past relevant work or other work based on your residual functional capacity that exists in significant numbers in the national economy.
Please call our office at (508) 421-4610 if you have any questions about applying for disability with dystonia or the application process in general.
