Fractures of the spine can cause serious injuries. Most fractures involve the lower spine with about five to ten percent located in the cervical spine(neck). They are most commonly due to trauma secondary to a car accident, sport injury or a fall. Women, especially if they suffer from osteoporoosis, are also at risk. The most serious complication involves injury to the spinal cord which can result in weakness in the legs causing difficulty walking or problems with one’s bowel or bladder.
Treatment may be nonsurgical or involve surgery depending on the indiviual case. Regardess of the type of treatment, if complications such as difficulty walking or severe back pain result in your inability to carry on your job duties then you should consider applying for social security disability.
Since the process of applying is rather complex and diffcult to understand, you should strongly consider using a lawyer who works mainly with disability cases. He also understands the various rules that social security follows in disability casess.
In general, after the state disability office reviews your doctor’s records, they will make a decision regarding your case. It is somewhat complicated depending onyour age, level of education and all your past jobs. For younger individuals under 50, their rules for allowing disability benefits are more stringent while it is somewhat easier if your are over 50. The key factor in making a decision in all cases is how your ability to walk is affected over a working day.