My back pain has gotten so bad that I cannot go to work. What can I do?

If your back pain has become so severe you are unable to work, you may be able to qualify for social security disability. However, your eligibility for such benefits will depend on the underlying cause of your condition, how much medical evidence you have, and whether you can prove that your back pain really makes you unable to work. 

Social security disability benefits are provided for those who legitimately cannot work because of an injury, illness or medical condition. In order to get back pain disability, you will need to first identify whether the underlying cause of your condition is listed in the SSA blue book listing of your impairments. Things like general back pain or "nerve damage" or a vague diagnosis are not generally going to be listed in the SSA blue book listing, since only those illnesses that are clearly severe and disabling are listed. 

If the cause of your back pain is not a listed impairment, you will need to have sufficient medical evidence proving that your back pain is as severe as those illnesses listed. This means getting a doctor to document the problems you are having, the level of impairment that those problems cause you, and the reasons you may not work.

The benefits available through the SSA are for those people who are disabled on a long term basis and for those who are not able to work at all, so you'll need to show that the back pain is truly impacting your life and making it impossible for you to hold any job, and that the back pain is likely to last for a long period of time. You may need to hire a lawyer to help you prove these points to the SSA and to assist you in convincing the SSA that you are really badly enough injured to get benefits.