Social Security disability claims arising from migraine headaches have become more common over the past ten to fifteen years. The Migraine Research Foundation, a private organization that funds research into the causes and treatment of migraine headaches, estimates that 30 million Americans suffer occasionally or regularly with migraine headaches. These headaches result in 113 million lost work days due to migraines and $13 billion of lost productivity.
Migraine patients file for Social Security disability when the frequency and severity of headaches reaches the point where work activity is impossible, despite relaxation techniques and medication therapy.
In my experience, Social Security judges will approve disability based on migraines if they are convinced that:
- the claimant is sincere, truthful and credible
- the claimant has tried all available therapies and medications without success
- the medical record supports the disability claimant’s allegations of headache frequency and severity
My case strategy for winning migraine cases arises from a “functional capacity” argument – that because of frequent and debilitating migraine headaches, my client would not be a reliable employee at even a low stress job with minimal physical or mental demands.
I strongly recommend that my clients keep a headache diary – remember that your hearing may be two or more years from the date you apply and your testimony about the frequency, duration and intensity of your headaches, and the failure of treatments will be much more believable if you have diary evidence. A great resource to keep a diary is a mobile phone app called MigraineBuddy. This app allows you to keep track of your migraines and to export a report that we can use as evidence.
Click to read more about how I use a functional capacity argument to win a migraine Social Security disability case.
No Medical Listing for Migraine Headaches
At this point Social Security has not yet published a medical listing for migraine headaches, although they have published a ruling – SSR 19-4p, which offers guidance to judges about how they should evaluate chronic headache cases. In the video below, I discuss this ruling and how I use it to prepare my migraine headache cases.
Case Studies – hearing reports from migraine disability cases tried by attorney Jonathan Ginsberg
Migraine Case Study 1: 45 year old female with migraines 3 to 7 days per month, non-responsive to medications
Migraine Headache Case Study 2: 54 year old male who experiences 5 to 10 migraines per month. He is blind in his right eye after being struck by a nail from a nail gun.
Migraine-like Headache Case Study #3: 54 year old female with a 7th grade education and unskilled work background who claims disability arising from constant and severe headaches arising from chronic, intractable sinus infections that cause thick, malodorous drainage from the ears.