Social Security Disability with arthritis

How Social Security evaluates arthritis

Social Security first checks whether the condition meets a medical Listing — osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis are evaluated under different ones —, but most cases do not turn on the Listing. They turn on the severity shown in the medical evidence and are usually decided on residual functional capacity — what a person can still do despite the condition. For arthritis, that means the ability to stand, walk, lift, and handle objects over a sustained full-time schedule, accounting for flares and bad days. Approval depends on more than a diagnosis — we must demonstrate the severity and duration of your condition, how it affects everyday activities, and your ability to work.

Evidence that matters

• Imaging showing joint-space narrowing, erosions, or deformity, and exam notes on swelling, range of motion, grip, and gait.
• For inflammatory types: rheumatology records, lab markers, and a record of flares and treatment response.
• A treating physician's statement on standing and walking tolerance, lifting, handling and fingering, and expected bad days per month.
• A steady treatment history — medication, injections, joint replacement, therapy.

Representation

Representation gets the record to speak in function: how far a person can walk, how long they can be on their feet, what the hands can still do, and how often flares would interrupt work. That evidence is developed with the treating sources and presented against the vocational testimony at the hearing, and pressed further in federal court when a denial ignores it.