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Va Disability Rates For Back Injuries

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What Is A Secondary Service Connection

VA Disability Rating for Lower Back Pain

The VA awards a secondary service connection when it finds that a current health condition was caused or aggravated by the Veterans original service-connected injury or illness. Here is an example of depression as a secondary condition:

  • A Veteran experiences a major back injury during a Veterans service. They receive treatment but still experience significant pain and discomfort daily.
  • After leaving the military, continued uncomfortable or painful symptoms negatively affect the Veteran. They cannot enjoy activities they once did before joining the military, or they find that their quality of life decreases.
  • The constant pain and lower quality of life catalyze an episode of depression that would not have affected the Veteran if they had not been injured.

In this example, the Veterans military service did not directly cause their mental condition. However, the Veterans other service-related disability caused depression. That makes depression a secondary condition. This can also be true for other primary service connected conditions that lead to a Veterans depression.

Fortunately, Veterans can claim their depressive symptoms as secondary conditions and receive Veterans benefits such as VA disability compensation.

How To Use The Tables To Find Your Monthly Payment

Find your basic rate

Go to the compensation rates for your disability rating. On the Basic monthly rates table, find the amount for your disability rating and dependent status. This is your basic monthly rate.

Example :If youre a Veteran with a 30% disability rating, and you have a dependent spouse , your basic monthly rate would be $522.39 each month.

Find your added amounts, if any apply

If your spouse receives Aid and Attendance benefits or you have more than one child, you may qualify for additional monthly payment amounts as listed in the Added amounts table.

First, determine your basic rate.

Example :If youre a Veteran with a 70% disability rating, and you have a spouse, plus 3 dependent children under the age of 18, you would start with the basic rate of $1,754.95 .

Next, look at the Added amounts table. Find the amount for children under age 18 .

Since your basic rate already provides payment for 1 child, you would add the rate of $64.00 for each additional child .

If your spouse receives Aid and Attendance, you would also add $119 .

In our example of a Veteran with 70% disability rating, your total monthly payment amount would be:

$1,754.95 basic rate + $64 +$64 +$119 Total $2,001.95

Va Disability Ratings For Back Pain: Va Range Of Motion Chart For Back Explained

If you experience back pain from military service, you may be eligible for VA disability compensation. Benefits will vary based on specific factors about your VA disability. Chronic back pain typically results in a higher rating than acute pain, and a smaller range of motion causes more difficulty than the higher range of motion. Understanding VA disability ratings for back pain is the first step to earning the benefits you deserve.

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Va Secondary Spinal Conditions

The spine can affect every other part of your body. Certain spinal conditions can lead to other conditions that can be claimed for an additional rating. Some injuries to the spine might cause weakness in areas such as the arms, shoulders, or hips. Other spinal conditions cause people to change how they walk, which can lead to leg and knee issues. A common secondary condition to spinal conditions is also nerve damage or issues.

Radiculopathy is a nerve condition caused by compressed nerves in the spine, resulting in weakness, numbness, or pain along the nerve. The VA rating for radiculopathy in the lower back will be based on symptoms felt in their lower limbs, such as feet, calves, or thighs. The VA rating for cervical radiculopathy is determined based on symptoms in the shoulder, arm, and hand.

If a veteran can prove that their service-connected spinal condition was the primary cause of the secondary condition, they may qualify as having a secondary service-connection condition. This allows the veteran to get a separate rating from the spinal condition that could potentially increase monthly compensation.

How Secondary Conditions Affect Your Disability Rating

Va Disability Rating Chart By Condition

Secondary conditions can increase your total disability rating. With the VA rating system, Veterans are rated proportionately in terms of how much they are disabled versus non-disabled. For example, a Veteran with a disability rating of 30% is counted as 70% non-disabled and 30% disabled.

When you acquire benefits for a secondary condition, that conditions disability rating is added to the current disability rating you have. This is true whether the new grant of service connection is a primary service connected disability or a secondary disability. Heres a breakdown of how this works with a hypothetical Veteran who has a disability rating of 50%:

  • The Veteran applies for and receives benefits for a secondary condition related to their initial service-connected disability or injury.
  • The secondary condition has a disability rating of 30%.
  • However, the 30% and 50% are not simply added together. Instead, the 30% is considered as a percentage of the previous 50% disability rating.
  • Because 30% of 50% is 15%, the Veterans total new disability rating is 50+15 or 65%.
  • Since the VA always rounds to the nearest factor of 10, this is rounded up to a 70% total disability rating.

As you can see, the VA certainly doesnt make it easy to understand how disability ratings are added up! Thats just one more reason why you should contact knowledgeable Veterans law attorneys right away if you think you have hip pain related to a service-connected back injury or condition.

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Can I Be Rated For More Than One Va Disability For Back

The legal concept Avoidance of Pyramiding applies to the back just like any other VA disability.

However, you can be rated for more than one disability condition for your back that cause different levels of impairment and are clearly separately rated conditions.

For example, you may have a 50% VA rating for your back due to unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.

Perhaps this condition has also led to Radiculopathy, which occurs when nerve roots become pinched or damaged, the resulting symptoms lead to this painful condition.

How Is Service Connection Established For Back Pain

The VA will consider your condition to be service-connected if you can show that it was either caused or worsened by your military service.

It can be tricky to prove that your condition was caused by your time in the military, but not impossible. Your doctor will need to provide objective medical evidence that your condition is connected to your military service.

Veterans must provide evidence to back up their application for VA disability for back pain. Evidence will include:

  • Diagnosis of the condition where possible or an explanation of how back pain affects daily life
  • The event, injury, or illness that occurred in-service to cause the injury
  • Link, or medical nexus, between service-related events and the pain youre experiencing

Secondary service connections may also be made. A secondary connection, for example, would link the back pain to another service-related condition. If a knee injury caused by your service altered your normal gait and led to back pain, a claim will be approved if the link is proven.

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Is Back Pain A Va Disability

Yes, Back Pain is a VA disability.

The VA rates Back Pain under CFR Title 38, Part 4, Schedule for Rating Disabilities, General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine.

VA Ratings for Back Pain range from 10 percent to 100 percent, with breaks at 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, and 50 percent.

The highest scheduler rating for severe Back Pain is 100%, which means your entire spine is frozen in an unfavorable position.

Your final VA Disability Rating for lower back pain depends upon the Frequency, Severity, and Duration of symptoms to include Limitation of Range of Motion and Painful Motion.

Pro Tip: In accordance with the Painful Motion principle, if you have pain upon flexion or extension of your neck or shoulder, the VA is required to award the minimum compensable rating for the condition, which is 10%.

The 10 Most Common Va Disability Claims

WINNING a VA Disability Rating for Back Pain

Due to the level of intensity required by military service, many veterans come home with residual problems that could be a financial strain or cause them unnecessary trouble. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for compensating disabled veterans for the conditions they developed in connection with their active-duty service time. In 2019, the VA reported that there were approximately 5.2 million disabled veterans claiming a total of over 25 million disabilities. Below are the 10 most common disabilities claimed by veterans.

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Va Compensation And Pension Exams For Back Pain

To help the VA determine VA disability ratings for back pain, a compensation and pension exam is usually required. This is where a VA-approved medical professional will perform a comprehensive physical and verbal examination then write their opinion on your condition. The practitioner will assess how far you can bend and flex your joints during the range of motion C& P exam.

While the ROM test is the primary factor in determining VA ratings for back and spine conditions, there are also other portions included in the C& P exams. For example, the VA compensation exam for lower back pain might include a disability benefits questionnaire . Back thoracolumbar spine conditions can have a significant effect on an individuals life, a DBQ allows the veteran to go into detail about how the condition has impacted their life.

Attending a C& P exam with a medical professional can also potentially help you discover the presence of secondary conditions you were unaware of.

Proving Va Service Connection For Your Back Or Spine Condition

Similar to the majority of VA disability claims, to earn VA disability ratings for back pain you must provide three main pieces of evidence:

  • A current diagnosis from a medical professional of the condition you are currently filing a claim for.
  • Proof of an inciting event that you believe to have caused the condition you are currently filing a claim for.
  • A medical nexus or statement that connects the military event or experience to your current diagnosis. This should be presented as a statement of opinion from a medical professional.

After gathering this information and attending a C& P exam, you will receive a disability rating from the VA in the form of a percentage.

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Va C& p Exams For Back Pain

After you file your claim, the VA may decide to conduct a compensation and pension compensation exam on your back or spine if they need more information or medical evidence to support your claim.

C& P exams help VA evaluators determine the severity of your condition and assign a rating for it. Your rating will determine your eligibility for monthly payments and other VA health care benefits, according to the VA.

Va Disability Ratings For Back Pain

 Va Disability Percentage Per Injury

by John W. Mitchell

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability in the United States, affecting about 4.3 million Americans twice the burden of any other health condition. About 20% of such cases are chronic, lasting a year or more, according to the National Institutes of Health.

However, the incidence of low back pain is about a third for veterans, with slightly less suffering from related arthritis, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Military service can puts veterans at risk for conditions that cause back pain.

Those in the U.S. military frequently carry and lift heavy loads, jump, or quickly pivot and run in their line of duty, said an article on OrthoInfo, a patient education site by the American Academy for Orthopedic Surgeons. Repeated stress and trauma on these joints contribute to the overall health and well-being of the spine.

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Depression Secondary To Back Pain

Depression is a serious mental health condition that affects the way a person thinks, feels, and acts. Symptoms of depression tend to include the following: persistent feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and hopelessness lack of motivation or interest in activities that are usually pleasurable difficulty sleeping and concentrating irritability decreased energy fatigue and changes in appetite resulting in weight loss or weight gain. If a veteran suffers from debilitating back pain, it is possible that they will develop depression due to the chronic discomfort and limitations on activities of daily living.

Pain Exacerbated By Service

If you had a pre-existing condition when you joined the military, and your military service exacerbated that injury to an extent worse than a natural progression of that condition, you can establish a service connection to your chronic pain flowing from that condition.

For example, if you had a trick knee that was only painful on a few occasions when you joined the military but, by the time you were discharged, your knee experienced continuous and chronic pain, you might be entitled to VA disability benefits for chronic pain.

The key, however, is to show that the worsening of the pain was not a natural progression, but rather was caused by your military service. There are many ways to establish that a worsening is not natural. For example, you can use medical records to show a marked increase in medical visits for treatment. Similarly, you can use documentary evidence, such as x-rays or test results, to show that your condition showed a severe decline that would not be expected in a natural progression. You can use expert opinions from doctors that the progression was worse than a natural progression of the condition.

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Filing A Va Disability Claim

If you have been subjected to a service-related injury or condition, you may be eligible for compensation. There are three criteria required for approval of a VA disability claim:

  • A medical diagnosis
  • Proof of service connection
  • Evidence that symptoms are recurring or persistent

A fully developed claim can be pushed through the VA process much quicker than a partial claim. Fully developed claims typically include VA medical records, private medical records, and supporting statements.

If you believe you are eligible, review the US Department of Veterans Affairs claim filing process.

Full Definition Of 459 Painful Motion

Common Secondary Conditions to Back Pain: VA Claims

With any form of arthritis, painful motion is an important factor of disability, the facial expression, wincing, etc., on pressure or manipulation, should be carefully noted and definitely related to affected joints.

Muscle spasm will greatly assist the identification.

Sciatic neuritis is not uncommonly caused by arthritis of the spine.

The intent of the schedule is to recognize painful motion with joint or periarticular pathology as productive of disability.

It is the intention to recognize actually painful, unstable, or malaligned joints, due to healed injury, as entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating for the joint.

Crepitation either in the soft tissues such as the tendons or ligaments, or crepitation within the joint structures should be noted carefully as points of contact which are diseased.

Flexion elicits such manifestations.

The joints involved should be tested for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing and, if possible, with the range of the opposite undamaged joint.

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Direct Service Connection For Back Pain

In order to establish direct service connection for conditions related to back pain, veterans must show evidence of the following:

  • A current diagnosis of back pain or a back condition
  • An in-service event, injury, or illness and
  • A medical nexus between the current, diagnosed back pain/condition and the in-service event, injury, or illness

However, it is important to note that there is an exception to the first element of service connection involving a current diagnosis. In April 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in Saunders v. Wilkie that VA must award disability benefits for pain due to military service. This means that if a veteran has pain related to their time in service, but does not have an underlying medical diagnosis, they can still receive VA disability benefits. This ruling is beneficial to those with back conditions, as many veterans experience back pain stemming from their time in service but do not have a diagnosis that identifies a cause of that pain. Nonetheless, veterans will typically need medical documentation from a healthcare professional indicating that their back pain is related to their service.

Is Chronic Pelvic Pain A Disability

Yes. Chronic pelvic pain, like other forms of chronic musculoskeletal pain, qualifies for VA disability benefits. A claim for chronic pelvic pain would be rated based on how the pain affects the hip and thigh.

Additionally, pelvic pain can be rated using residuals for each effect flowing from the chronic pelvic pain. For example, the VAs regulations on fractured pelvis bones advise evaluating residuals, pain in the lumbar spine, muscle spasm, sciatic neuritis, peripheral nerve injury, and range of hip motion to arrive at a disability rating.

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What Is The Va Disability Rating For Chronic Pain Disorder

Chronic pain disorder is broader than chronic pain. Chronic pain disorder includes the disabling conditions that are caused by chronic pain. For example, chronic pain may lead to insomnia due to the inability to sleep while suffering pain. Similarly, chronic pain may lead to depression about the pain.

While there is no VA disability rating schedule for chronic pain disorder, you can approximate the effects of all your service-connected disabilities through the secondary service-connected disability doctrine. Under this procedure, you can include claims for secondary disabling conditions that have a nexus to a primary disability. By aggregating the VA disability rating for the source of the pain with the VA disability rating for the effects of the pain, the overall VA disability rating covers the entire chronic pain disorder.

combined VA rating and monthly payment

Thus, in the examples above, chronic pain would be your primary service-connected disability, and depression or insomnia would be your secondary service-connected disability. When you use secondary service-connected disabilities, the individual rating percentages for each disability are aggregated using VA math.

Here is our video explaining how the VA Combined Rating table works and why VA Math can be so confusing.

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