Can I claim PIP for Slipped/Bulging/Degenerative Discs or Joint Replacement?

This guide provides insights into how these conditions may potentially impact on you with regards to daily living and mobility. It explains how these conditions might affect your ability to carry out everyday activities safely, effectively, accurately, and repeatedly.

Slipped/bulging discs can be referred to as a prolapsed or herniated discs. This occurs when the soft cushion in between the spinal disc bulges outwards. Pain is experienced when it presses on nerves.
Degenerative disc disease is when damaged discs cause pain.
You are awaiting spinal surgery
High levels of pain from hip/s/knee/s whilst waiting for replacement surgery

You may experience a range of pain, have a limited range of movements due to your pain and struggle with moving your body and mobility. The NHS use a range of descriptions to describe pain and a pain scale:

Burning

A pain that feels hot.

Sharp or Stabbing

A quick, piercing pain.

Throbbing

A pain that feels like it has a regular beat or pulse.

Gripping

A pain that feels really tight.

Shooting

A fast pain that travels up through your body.

Tingling

A pain that feels like pins and needles; it may go numb.

The Pain Scale

The pain scale

Pain is measured on a scale between 1 to 3.

I have no or very little pain. I do not need to take painkillers.
I feel very uncomfortable. The pain has stopped me from doing certain things. I would like something for the pain.
I am in really bad pain. I cannot think about anything else. I need something for the pain.

Pain can be described as acute or chronic. Acute pain is of a short duration and normally resolves when the body heals itself, for instance after injuries or operations. Chronic pain is when it lasts over three months, and the pain can be there constantly or come and go.

Due to your pain, you may have been prescribed pain relief, physiotherapy and you more specialist intervention then you may be asked to attend the pain management clinic for specialist pain management support, specialist physiotherapists and clinical psychologists

The following are a serious cause for concern, and you should immediately attend urgent care or A+E if you experience any of the following symptoms:

Numbness or loss of feeling around the genitals or back passage
Losing control of your bladder or bowels
Severe pain radiating down both legs
Not knowing when you need to pass urine

Daily living descriptors

The following sections outline the daily activities assessed in PIP claims and how pain may affect them. This is not an exhaustive list; ensure all relevant details are included in your application.

Preparing Food

Pain can impact how you prepare a simple meal in a variety of ways:

Lack of motivation/interest in preparing and cooking food due to your pain
You may need to be prompted to prepare and cook food
You find it difficult to stand for any length of time due to the pain
You use a perching stool when preparing food
If you don’t have a perching stool, you may need to leave the kitchen to sit down due the pain
You are unable to sit/stand for any length of time in the kitchen due to the pain that you experience
You are unable to prepare food due to pain and someone else prepares food for you
You prepare quick foods/drinks which require no effort and take a short amount of time to prepare e.g. cereals, toast, ready meal, heat food up in the microwave

You buy preprepared fruit and vegetables to shorten the preparation time and the time you are standing

Eating and drinking

You may experience the following when eating and drinking:

You may experience side effects from your medication e.g. nausea, appetite suppression, alter the taste of the food you are eating, dry mouth etc which means that you may not want to eat, don’t eat all the food on your plate etc
Someone prompts and reminds you to eat because you don’t want to due to the pain you are experiencing
When eating, the pain may prevent you from finishing the food on your plate

Managing Treatments

This descriptor examines how you manage health-related treatments, and you may find:

You may put your medication in a place where you will see it which then reminds you to take it
You may need to be prompted and reminded when to take your medication
A dosette box may need to be used to remind you to take your medication
If you take medication, you may suffer from side effects which can impact your ability to do daily living tasks e.g. nausea, dizziness, brain fog, drowsiness, dry mouth, constipation, diarrhoea etc.

You may be having input from a physiotherapist, pain management clinic etc at home.

Washing and bathing

This looks at the ability of being able to bath or shower and what issues you may experience:

You need prompting and reminding to wash and bathe because you are in too much pain
You lack motivation to wash and bathe due to the pain that you are experiencing
You cannot get in to or out of a bath due to the level of pain you are in and restricted movement due to the pain
You have aids to help you wash and bathe e.g. bath board/shower seat, grab rails, long handled brush etc
You may need help from another person to enable you to get in or out of the bath/shower
You struggle to stand for any length of time in the shower due to pain
You are unable to wash parts of your body due to the pain and lack of flexibility
You may need someone to help you wash and bathe
You are unable to wash or bathe using a bath or shower but have a strip wash at the sink

Using the toilet and managing incontinence

This descriptor is about the ability to use a toilet independently and to be able clean yourself afterwards and have no continence issues:

You struggle to get yourself on or off the toilet due to the pain
You have aids to help you get on or off the toilet e.g. raised toilet seat, commode, toilet frame, towel rail, edge of sink or bath etc
Due to your pain, you struggle to get to the toilet on time and have experienced ‘accidents’
These ‘accidents’ result in you having to clean yourself and/or change your clothing
You wear incontinence pads due to continence issues resulting from nerve pain

You struggle to clean yourself due to pain and/or restricted movements

Dressing and undressing

This looks at whether you can dress and undress yourself and choose appropriate clothing:

You don’t get dressed and stay in pjs
You have changed the type of clothing you wear so that it is easy to get on and take off and fits loosely and does not sit tightly on the body and causes a feeling of restriction which increases the amount of the pain you are in
You need help from another person to dress and undress due to pain and restrictions in being able to move your body into certain conditions
You need to stop and rest when dressing and undressing due to the pain.
If you do need to rest, how long do you need to rest for?

Communicating Verbally

This descriptor looks at someone’s ability to verbally communicate and to be able to express and convey information and to be able to receive and understand information

The pain that you experience is such that you struggle to engage and keep focus in conversations and can find that you are asking people to repeat what they have said
You may become overwhelmed due to your pain and need to leave

Reading understanding signs, Symbols and Words

This relates to the ability to read and understand written or printed information

People experiencing pain can usually read and understand signs, symbols and or printed information. However, if you have any other health condition which affects this then you should include it in this descriptor

Mixing with other people

Due to your pain, you may struggle socially and find it difficult due to:

You may struggle to engage with people due to the pain levels you are experiencing
Side effects from pain medication may mean that you struggle to engage with people
Your pain levels may mean that you need to leave as you may struggle to cope in a social environment

You may need someone with you to assist you to mix/engage with other people

Managing money

This descriptor looks at if a person with pain can manage their money:

You may not struggle to manage your finances due to your pain but you may have other health conditions and/or disabilities which affect managing your money

Are you or have you been in debt? Have you or are you getting debt support/advice from specialist debt organisations e.g. Citizens Advice, StepChange etc

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Mobility Descriptors

These evaluate how COPD may affect mobility related tasks. This is not an exhaustive list; ensure all relevant details are included in your application.

Planning and following a journey

Pain may make planning and following a journey challenging:

· You may struggle to plan or navigate an unfamiliar journey without support from someone else due your pain

· You may become overwhelmed due to the pain level that you experience

· You may not be able to leave home and undertake the journey due to the levels of pain that you may be experiencing

· You may start your journey but unable to continue it and need to return home due to the levels of pain that you experience

· If your journey was interrupted due to road works, a crash etc would you be able to alter your journey to get around this? Would this unexpected issue overwhelm you that you would not know what to do and you would need to return home

· Would you need someone with you on your journey or would you be able to do it on your own?

· You may become distressed due to your pain levels and are unable to leave the house to undertake the journey

You may struggle to plan and follow an unfamiliar journey due the pain that you experience

Moving Around

You may struggle to walk without being in pain
You may use aids to help you to walk e.g. walking stick, crutches, wheelchair, holding on to somebody whilst you walk
You may only walk short distances before you need to stop and rest due to your pain

Finally…

It is important that when you complete your PIP form, that you include how the pain affects you in relation to each descriptor. Ensure that you give specific examples, under each descriptor, where you have struggled due your pain, where appropriate. It is important that you include any aids, adaptations or support/supervision that you need to help you complete each activity, where appropriate.

This information only covers pain. If you have any other health conditions and/or disability you should include how they impact you under the relevant descriptors.

Remember to include copies of any relevant medical evidence, diagnosis letters, care plans etc to support your claim for PIP.

Please note that this information is correct at the time of writing:

Reviewed April 2025

Please remember that this is not a complete list and if you have other symptoms or conditions that affect this descriptor, they need to be included on your PIP claim. More information can be found at www.gov.uk