Arthritis can impact a range of different parts of a person’s body. This includes their hands. Sometimes, arthritis causes a person to suffer pain, a reduction in strength and functional reductions in their hands.
A recent study underscores how common hand arthritis is. The study looked at data covering over 2,200 people age 45 and over from one state (North Carolina) to look at hand arthritis prevalence. From this analysis, the study estimated that around 40 percent of people will suffer arthritis in at least one of their hands at some point during their lifetime. The study also found that chances of developing hand arthritis in one’s lifetime were significantly higher among women that they were among men.
Hand arthritis and the problems it can cause in a person’s hands can have many implications for a person. What particular impacts it could have in part depends on what stage of life a person is in. If a person develops hand arthritis before they hit retirement age, among the ramifications they could be subjected to are serious employment ramifications. In some cases, hand arthritis could cause a person to have to leave the workforce much earlier than they were intending to.
One thing individuals who have been hit by disabling hand arthritis before reaching retirement age may be able to do to try to cope with the financial ramifications of the impacts the hand arthritis has had on their ability to stay in the workforce is make a Social Security disability claim. SSD attorneys can advise hand arthritis sufferers here in New Jersey on their prospects for qualifying for SSD benefits and what steps and measures to take when applying for such benefits.
