Trigeminal Neuralgia & Migraine Headaches – 59 Year-Old Female

by | Mar 28, 2023 | SSA Case Study Examples of Hearings and Outcomes

59 Year-Old Female from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who suffers from Trigeminal Neuralgia and migraine headaches. This claimant was previously found disabled on her Supplemental Security Income application dated 4/5/2017. However, her Date Last Insured was on 3/31/2013. This made things complicated because we needed to prove disability before 3/31/2013 so that she would be eligible for Title 2 benefits.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a Condition that Causes Painful Sensations Similar to an Electric Shock

The claimant had an Alleged Onset Date of 4/1/2012 and was 49 years old as of that date. The good news is there were some interesting complaints and llegationsin the medical records from the time periods of 2011, 2012 and 2013 which we brought to the Administrative Law Judge’s attention to show that the Trigeminal Neuralgia was still a major problem for her at the time. Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition that causes painful sensations similar to an electric shock on one side of the face. This chronic pain condition affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from your face to your brain. If you have trigeminal neuralgia, even mild stimulation of your face — such as from brushing your teeth or putting on makeup — may trigger a jolt of excruciating pain.

Pain

The argument used by our skillful attorney was that, because of this shooting stabbing pain on the left side of her face, the client would be unable to maintain focus on a job and there were days where she would not be able to show up to work. We had a Medical Expert on the phone. He was great.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is no joke, they don’t call it the “Suicide Disease” for nothing. The pain is apparently so bad people often kill themselves because they cannot bear it. We were very lucky to have a doctor who has treated patients with this disease at hearing.

This lady will win her Title 2 benefits back to her original onset date of 4/1/2012!