Am I Eligible For Disability With Sciatica?
By Attorney Chris Sharry on April 12th, 2017 in
Am I eligible for disability with sciatica? What is sciatica? Sciatica is a symptom that consists of pain caused by irritation of the sciatic nerve. You might feel weakness, numbness, or a burning or tingling (“pins and needles”) sensation down your leg, possibly even in your toes. Sciatica might be a symptom of a “pinched nerve” affecting one or more of the lower spinal nerves.
What Causes Sciatic Nerve Compression?
Several spinal disorders can cause spinal nerve compression and sciatica or lumbar radiculopathy. The 6 most common are:
- a bulging or herniated disc
- lumbar spinal stenosis
- spondylolisthesis
- trauma
- piriformis syndrome
- spinal tumors
Although it may be difficult to qualify for disability benefits with sciatica alone, most times the sciatica is caused by a condition listed above and an application is filed due to a combination of several conditions. In addition, claimants will want to document their pain and any other limitations caused by these back injuries when applying for benefits.
You may qualify for disability benefits if you are not performing substantial gainful activity and if the impairment prevents you from doing your past relevant work or other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy.
