Continuous medicine can sometimes help prevent pain, although if your medicines have been prescribed "as required", you may not need to take them in between painful episodes. If you have any questions or concerns about the medicine you're taking or any side effects you think you may be experiencing, talk to your healthcare team. It may also be useful to read the information leaflet that comes with the medicine, which will tell you about possible interactions with other drugs or supplements.
Check with your healthcare team if you plan to take any over-the-counter remedies, such as painkillers, or any nutritional supplements, as these can sometimes interfere with your medicine. Because osteoarthritis is a long-term condition, you'll be in regular contact with your healthcare team. People with long-term conditions such as osteoarthritis may be encouraged to get an annual flu jab each autumn to protect against flu. You may also be advised to get a pneumoccocal vaccination. This is a one-off injection that protects against a serious chest infection called pneumococcal pneumonia.
The Versus Arthritis helpline is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. Call free on You can also email them at helpline versusarthritis. However, if your osteoarthritis is so severe, that you can no longer do the daily tasks of your job anymore, you may be able to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.
One of your main functions of your job is carrying and lifting boxes. If you have osteoarthritis in your spine, it might be more difficult now than ever to lift those boxes and perform one of the basic duties of your job. If you have osteoarthritis and your symptoms and diagnosis seem to be getting worse, you should speak with your supervisor to see if there are any work restrictions you can be placed on so that you can continue to work.
If you are having restrictions placed on you at work due to your osteoarthritis and you still find it that you cannot work like you could before your diagnosis, then you may be able to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.
Pain from osteoarthritis in your joints could make it difficult for you to sedentary work. You should consult with your doctor to see if you are physically unable to work with osteoarthritis. Joint pain can leave in you a bad situation, so you may find yourself unable to remain in one position for a long time without the need to reposition. Joint pain in your hips and knees may make sitting long periods impossible, so you cannot perform sedentary work.
The pain can make jobs such as truck driving impossible as well. During a trial work program, the SSA allows a disability claimant to test his or her ability to return to work force and still be considered disabled during the time. When participating in the trial work period, you will continue to receive your regular monthly disability check while also earning money from the work duties that you perform.
You need to keep track of all your earnings and report them to the SSA, so they can determine if you have exceeded the amount and if the month is considered a trial work month. Maintaining thorough documentation is essential to the outcome of your case and determining if you have used your trial period and if you still qualify for disability benefits. When an individual works enough to earn that much money, then he or she is considered capable of working.
After an individual completes the trial work period, the claimant might try to re-enter the workforce. During the trial work period, the claimant will continue to receive disability benefits while working.
After the trial period, the claimant will not receive disability benefits for any month that he or she earns what is considered SGA. If anytime during the first five years after you have returned to work, your medical condition worsens again, you can receive disability benefits again without having to reapply. You will receive disability benefits starting right away without having to wait while your claim is being reviewed. Always be sure to keep track of your earnings and your hours worked, so you can provide the details to the SSA and so they can properly review your case and determine how your case should proceed.
There are different kinds of income that can be earned. Not everything is earned wages, such as an hourly wage or a weekly salary. However, you may earn income from passive income or from self-employment. You must also have a history of joint pain or stiffness, and a loss of motion or instability in the joint.
In addition, you need medical documentation that:. If you've had surgery to help restore your joint, there's another listing you can qualify under. Listing 1. Your major weight-bearing joints include your hips, knees, ankles, and feet. To meet the listing, you must have:. If you have osteoarthritis but you don't meet the criteria under any of the listings discussed above, the Social Security Administration SSA will look at your " residual functional capacity ," or "RFC.
Lower extremity arthritis. In this case, your RFC assessment may limit you to no more than sedentary work. Sedentary work is mostly sit-down work—work where you don't need to lift more than ten pounds at a time and the work is done mostly seated.
However, up to two hours a day of walking or standing may be required for sedentary work, so if you have severe enough trouble with walking because of your arthritis, you may not be able to perform even sedentary work. Upper extremity arthritis. If you have osteoarthritis in your shoulders, arms, or hands, your RFC assessment may restrict you from doing work that involves lifting, reaching, typing, writing, or grabbing.
This would make it difficult to do many jobs, even sedentary jobs. If you can't many types of sedentary work, the SSA should find you disabled. For more information, see our article on proving you can't do a full range of sedentary work. Types of RFCs. Your RFC assessment can be for medium, light, or sedentary work. The SSA will compare RFC level with your prior job skills and education to see if there are any jobs you know how to do, or could easily learn to do, at that work level.
If you're older than age 50, the SSA is less likely to expect you to learn to do a new job. For more information on how the SSA decides whether your RFC, skills, education, and age combine to make you disabled, see our section on disability determinations based on RFCs.
If you're overweight, in determining your physical limitations, the SSA must look at how the combined effect of your extra weight and arthritis limit your functioning. For example, if you're medically obese and also have arthritis in both knees, you might have more pain and be limited more than someone with arthritis alone. For more information, read our article on getting disability when you are overweight.
The main way that Social Security evaluates your claim is based on your medical evidence—this includes doctors' and hospital records and laboratory tests.
Social Security might also consider a questionnaire completed by your doctor or even the results of an independent examination by a doctor of Social Security's choosing. Even if you have severe osteoarthritis that causes difficulty walking or using your hands, Social Security will still probably deny your initial application. But here are some tips to improve your chances of getting approved:.
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