You may have developed a skin problem because of exposure to chemicals or heat at your workplace. Some people suffer burns because of a workplace accident. Burns and other skin conditions can produce disturbed areas of the skin called skin lesions, which may make it hard or impossible for you to continue working at your job.
Fortunately, the Social Security Administration may provide you with financial assistance through Social Security Disability. To successfully apply for disability based on a skin problem, you should be aware of how Social Security determines how skin lesions limit your ability to work.
The location of skin lesions
Where your skin lesions are can have a great impact on your ability to work. A skin lesion on the side of your arm might not have much of an effect. However, lesions on the palms of your hands may make it hard to perform tasks. Lesions on the bottoms of your feet can impair your ability to walk. Similarly, lesions in the groin area or the perineum can make it hard to get around.
Lesions that interfere with joints
In some cases a rash or a burn may interfere with your ability to move a leg, an arm or a hand. According to Social Security, a lesion that seriously limits your joints must impair more than one of your extremities. It can be two upper or two lower extremities, or one of each. For instance, you may have problems moving both of your hands or both of your legs, or perhaps just one hand and one leg. Any of these combinations may qualify for disability.
Lesions that flare up
Even if your lesions do not meet the aforementioned requirements, it is still possible Social Security will grant you disability if your condition flares up in a way that prevents you from conducting gainful activity. These flare ups must last for at least 12 months or a doctor will expect them to last for that long. Additionally, your flare ups must be serious and frequent enough to impair your working ability.
Social Security allows some flexibility in its guidelines, so even if it seems at first that your skin condition does not qualify for benefits, you may find different standards that fit your situation.