Imagine you've called in sick three times this month because the pain made it impossible to stand. The fatigue hits without warning, and some days the bleeding is so heavy you can't make the commute. If endometriosis has made holding down a job feel impossible, you may qualify for disability benefits.
A Boston Social Security disability lawyer can help you build an SSDI claim that shows exactly how endometriosis disrupts your ability to work. The SSA doesn't have a specific listing for endometriosis, but the condition may meet or equal other listings when properly documented.
How Does the SSA Evaluate Endometriosis Claims?
The Social Security Administration defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA) due to a medically determinable impairment expected to last at least 12 continuous months or result in death. For 2026, SGA is $1,690 per month for non-blind individuals. If SSA finds you're performing SGA, they generally deny the claim.
Endometriosis doesn't have its own Blue Book listing, so SSA evaluators look at whether your condition meets or equals other listings or prevents you from performing substantial gainful activity through a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) assessment. The key is showing that your symptoms occur frequently enough and severely enough to prevent sustained work activity despite treatment.
What Medical Evidence Strengthens Your Endometriosis Claim?
Strong medical documentation separates approved claims from denied ones. The SSA needs objective medical evidence that confirms your diagnosis and demonstrates how symptoms prevent you from engaging in substantial gainful activity.
Surgical Reports and Pathology Results
Laparoscopy results provide the most definitive proof of endometriosis. If you've had excision surgery, ablation, or a diagnostic laparoscopy, those operative reports should be front and center in your application. Pathology findings that confirm endometrial tissue outside the uterus carry significant weight.
Imaging studies like ultrasounds or MRIs may show endometriomas, ovarian cysts, or deep infiltrating endometriosis. While imaging alone can't always diagnose the condition, it supports your claim when combined with clinical findings and surgical history.
Treatment Records Showing Persistent Symptoms
SSA will review your treatment history and response to treatment as part of evaluating the severity and persistence of your condition. Hormone therapy trials, pain management visits, emergency department records for uncontrolled pain or bleeding, and mental health treatment for depression or anxiety all demonstrate ongoing severity.
Documentation of severe anemia from chronic blood loss can also support your claim. Lab results showing persistently low hemoglobin or hematocrit levels, treatment records for iron infusions or blood transfusions, and physician notes linking anemia to your endometriosis help establish the condition's systemic impact on your ability to function.
Physician Statements About Functional Limitations
Your treating gynecologist's opinion matters. A detailed statement explaining how often you experience severe pain, how long episodes last, and what activities you cannot perform during flare-ups gives the SSA concrete information. Specific detail can be decisive.
A Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) questionnaire completed by your physician should address your ability to sit, stand, walk, lift, concentrate, and maintain a regular schedule. Specific responses like "limited to sedentary work with frequent unscheduled breaks" provide measurable limitations the SSA can evaluate.
Can You Meet a Blue Book Listing With Endometriosis?
Most endometriosis claims don't meet a specific Blue Book listing outright, but some do when complications arise.
Weight Loss Due to Any Digestive Disorder
Deep infiltrating endometriosis can affect the bowel, causing pain, obstruction, or malabsorption that leads to significant weight loss. To meet Listing 5.08, you must show a BMI of less than 17.50 calculated on at least two evaluations at least 60 days apart within a consecutive 12-month period, with medical records documenting the digestive impact linked to your endometriosis.
Inflammatory Arthritis
If you have a separate documented diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis) that meets the criteria under Listing 14.09, that could support your claim. However, joint pain alone from endometriosis won't meet this listing without a distinct inflammatory arthritis diagnosis.
Secondary Conditions
More commonly, endometriosis claims succeed when secondary conditions are properly documented. Depression and anxiety resulting from chronic pain can materially affect your RFC when treatment records show persistent symptoms despite medication and therapy. Severe anemia from heavy bleeding may support both the severity of your condition and functional limitations related to fatigue and reduced physical capacity.
What Functional Limitations Does the SSA Consider?
The SSA evaluates whether your symptoms prevent you from working on a sustained basis, consistently over time. These are the most important functional areas they assess:
- Attendance and reliability. Vocational experts often testify that excessive absenteeism makes competitive employment impossible.
- Concentration and persistence. If your chronic pain requires frequent breaks or prevents you from staying on task, document how often this occurs and for how long.
- Physical capacity. Heavy bleeding causes anemia that limits your ability to walk, stand, or lift. If you cannot sustain even sedentary work due to your symptoms, this significantly strengthens your claim.
Why Work With a Social Security Disability Attorney?
An experienced attorney knows what evidence the SSA needs to see. They'll request specific records, coordinate with your doctors to obtain detailed RFC assessments, and identify gaps in your file before submission. Attorneys also handle the procedural aspects, like filing appeals on time, preparing you for hearings, and cross-examining vocational experts who might claim you can work despite your limitations.
Endometriosis can quietly dismantle your career, one missed day at a time. When pain becomes unmanageable and work becomes unsustainable, Social Security disability benefits provide financial support while you focus on treatment. Starting with an attorney early in the process often prevents common mistakes that lead to denials and can significantly strengthen your initial application.
