The imaging reads as mild
And nothing in the file explains why the symptoms are worse than the pictures. Clinical findings and a function-focused treating opinion are what answer this.
Social Security Disability
Disability Benefits for Back and Spine Conditions
The scan is not the claim. What decides it is how long you can stand, sit and lift before you have to stop.
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The commonest disability claim, and one of the hardest to win.
Back conditions are the single most common reason people apply for disability, and that is part of the problem. Examiners see thousands of them, and a file that says degenerative disc disease and chronic pain looks like every other file on the desk.
What separates an allowed claim from a refused one is almost never the diagnosis. It is a specific, documented description of what you can still do: how long you can stay on your feet, how long you can sit before you have to get up, how much you can lift and how often, whether you can bend, and how many days a month the pain takes you out altogether.
Social Security calls that your residual functional capacity, and it is the thing the whole claim turns on. A file full of imaging and short on function is the classic refused back claim.
Conditions this covers
Herniated and bulging discs, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, arachnoiditis, nerve root compression, failed back surgery, and chronic pain arising from any of them.
- How long you can stand In one stretch, and across a working day.
- How long you can sit Sedentary work is the fallback they look for.
- How much you can lift And how often, which matters as much.
- Bad days per month Absence is what makes someone unemployable.
Why the scan and the symptoms disagree
This is the argument at the center of nearly every refused back claim, and it is worth understanding before you apply.
Imaging findings and pain do not track each other neatly. People with dramatic scans function well, and people with unremarkable scans are genuinely unable to work. An examiner looking only at a report can conclude the findings are mild and stop there.
What closes that gap
Clinical findings rather than pictures. Range of motion measurements taken over time. Reflex, strength and sensation testing. Documented nerve involvement. A treatment history that shows escalation: physical therapy, injections, and what each one did or failed to do.
And a treating physician who has written down function rather than only diagnosis. A note recording that you cannot stand for more than fifteen minutes is worth more to a disability claim than another MRI report.
Why back claims get refused
These are the four reasons that come up again and again.
Conservative treatment only
If the record shows painkillers and nothing else, it is read as a condition nobody considered serious. Where escalation was declined or unaffordable, the reason needs to be in the notes.
Gaps in treatment
A stretch with no appointments is treated as a stretch with no symptoms. Losing insurance or transport is a real explanation, and it has to be written down somewhere.
Sedentary work is assumed
The commonest refusal of all. You cannot do your old job, so they find you can sit at a desk. Sitting tolerance and the need to change position are what defeat that assumption.
Questions
Back and spine disability questions
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
My MRI shows a herniated disc. Is that enough?
No, and this surprises people. A diagnosis establishes that something is wrong; it does not establish that you cannot work. The claim is decided on function, so the evidence has to show what the disc is doing to your ability to stand, sit, lift and concentrate through a working day.
I had surgery and it did not help.
That is significant evidence rather than a weakness in the claim. Failed surgery documents both the severity of the condition and the fact that the obvious remedy has been tried. Post-operative records showing continuing limitation matter a great deal.
I can still do things around the house.
Almost everyone can, and examiners often use it against a claim. The distinction that matters is between doing something once, at your own pace, with a rest afterwards, and doing it reliably for eight hours a day, five days a week. Describe the cost of the activity, not just the activity.
I am under 50. Does that make it harder?
Generally yes. The rules take age into account when deciding whether somebody could adjust to different work, and younger claimants are expected to adapt more readily. It does not prevent a claim; it means the functional evidence has to be stronger.
Does a work injury change anything?
It can mean you have a workers compensation claim as well as a disability claim, and the two interact. Both are handled in this office, which is the practical reason it matters.
What we charge
Our fees are set by federal statute, are contingency only, and are the lesser of 25% not to exceed the statutory maximum of $9,200.
There is nothing to pay up front and nothing to pay if the claim does not succeed. The fee comes out of past-due benefits when they are awarded, and it has to be approved.
If your condition is not one of these
The conditions we have written about are the ones we are asked about most often. They are not the only ones that qualify, and the list is not a test you have to appear on.
A disability claim is decided on what your conditions do to your ability to work, not on the name of the diagnosis. Several problems that are each manageable on their own can add up to something that is not, and that combination is frequently the strongest part of a claim.
If what you have is not on this site, that tells you nothing about your claim. Tell us what you have been diagnosed with and what it stops you doing, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth pursuing.
Other Social Security Disability pages
The rest of this practice area, in case your situation fits one of them better.
All Social Security Disability
SSDI denials, appeals and hearings.
Initial Applications
We prepare and file the whole claim. Most clients start here.
SSDI vs SSI
Two different programs, two different sets of rules.
Disability Appeals
What to do when the claim comes back denied.
Disability Hearings
The hearing in front of the judge, and how we prepare you for it.
SSI Children's Cases
Benefits for a child whose disability affects how they function.
SSD Widow's Benefits
Drawing on a late spouse's record, from 60, or from 50 if disabled.
Neck Injuries & Conditions
Cervical claims turn on the hands and arms, not the back.
Cancer
Some diagnoses qualify outright. Others turn on what treatment left behind.
COPD & Respiratory Conditions
Breathing test values, and the day the test was taken.
Depression & Anxiety Disorders
Assessed on functioning across a working week, not on a diagnosis.
PTSD
Reactivity and avoidance, and why the workplace itself is the barrier.
Multiple Sclerosis
A fluctuating illness, assessed on a single day. Closing that gap.
Heart Disease
Measured exertion, and the difference between stable and employable.
Stroke
What is left when recovery stops, and when to make the claim.
Bipolar Disorder
The cycle decides it. Well periods are read as capacity.
Arthritis
Which joints. Ones you stand on and ones you work with.
Amputations
The prosthesis, not the amputation, is what gets argued about.
The three areas we handle
One incident can open more than one claim, and they are handled together here.
Client Reviews
What our clients say
I had been denied two times for social security after life changing damages to my back, ankle and knee, had paid into social security all my life and I'm 60 years old now. Steven Casper was compassionate and thorough and walked me through the process without any money to pay him he was able to get my social security approved and every dime of back pay for those two years I had waited and has assured me that if anything comes up he's there for me.
Maggie Still
Google Review
After I spent two years in a frustrating battle with the SSA, I finally contacted Casper, Casper, & Casper, and Robin took my disability case. In about six months, Robin had won my case, along with back pay. The whole process of working with this firm was pleasant and painless. The staff was quick to respond to my many questions and also to update my changing medical information.
Kevin Weinand
Google Review
If you have been denied disability benefits, I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND this lawyers office!! Robin Partin and associates worked diligently on my case and fought for me! They were my voice and I won! 10/10
Janna Anderson
Google Review
I really cannot say enough about my attorney Steven Casper and his work ethic and professionalism. Also his legal assistant Ben, these two did a lot of prep work and fielding my many emails and answering my questions. Steven Casper prepped me personally for my appeal and court with an administrative law judge. This process is very slow dealing with Social Security but he kept me informed every step of the way with great detail and it played out exactly as he had described.
Michael Seagraves
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I can't thank Casper, Casper and Casper enough for what they did for me. From start to finish it took less than a year for them to help me get disability benefits. They did almost all of the groundwork and made it as painless for me as possible. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
Chester Thomas
Google Review
If I could give a MILLION PLUS stars I DEFINITELY would!! I contacted Mr. Steve Casper to handle my SSI case. I filed at first on my own and I was denied. He was VERY professional, honest and upfront about the clients he takes. He reassured me that I DID have a strong case. I got the news today that HE won my case for me!!!!
Kelly Bilbrey
Google Review
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