You can sabotage your own disability claim by saying the wrong thing to a doctor and having it end up in your medical records.

Say you go to an urgent care, or to a doctor other than the one treating the medical condition that keeps you from working. Maybe you have the flu. You're there for that one problem, and you don't really want to go through your full list of complaints with a doctor who isn't treating you for your disabling condition.

But that doctor is taking notes on your conversation. The notes might say something like "patient says he's feeling fine today, no complaints." The doctor may go down the list of possible symptoms and record that you denied having any of them.

Some people at the SSA will look at that visit and say: he went to the doctor on this date and noted no complaints. That's inconsistent with his testimony that he has a chronic back condition. His story that he's always in a lot of pain doesn't add up, because he told this doctor he was doing just fine.

A visit that had nothing to do with your disability can end up being used against your claim.

Every doctor's visit becomes part of the evidence in your file, not just the visits with the doctors treating your disabling condition. Even at a quick appointment for something unrelated, be careful about telling the doctor you're feeling fine or have no complaints if that isn't the whole picture.

The SSA reads all of your medical records together. Make sure what's in them, even the note from an urgent care visit for the flu, is consistent with what you're living with every day.

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If you want to book a call with our team to discuss applying for disability, call us at 972-532-6375 or book a time using this link.