Secondary VA Conditions to Back Pain
Back pain is a common disabling condition for veterans. Many veterans have obtained a VA disability rating for chronic back pain resulting from their service. This pain may be rooted in degenerative disc disease, spinal fracture, or many other types of illness or injury.
- Veterans may qualify for additional benefits if their back pain causes secondary issues like sleep disorders or gastrointestinal problems.
- Documenting medical evidence is crucial to linking secondary conditions to your primary back pain disability.
- A higher combined VA rating from secondary conditions could significantly improve your compensation.
- Seeking professional guidance can help ensure all secondary conditions tied to your back pain are properly evaluated and rated.
However, many veterans also experience secondary conditions arising from their back pain that diminish their quality of life. Conditions that were caused by or connected to your original service-connected back pain may qualify for additional compensation through a secondary VA rating.
What Are Secondary VA Ratings?
The VA assigns disability ratings to reflect the percentage that a service-connected condition affects a veteran’s overall health and ability to function. To be eligible for a VA disability rating, you must prove that you have a primary disabling condition connected to your military service, meaning that it either was caused or exacerbated by your time in the military.
However, some veterans are also eligible for a secondary disability rating. Secondary ratings aim to provide veterans with appropriate compensation for all service-connected conditions they may have developed. The VA may grant a secondary rating when a veteran develops an additional injury or illness caused by or related to a disability for which they already receive benefits.
Secondary Conditions to Service-Connected Back Pain
Veterans with service-connected back pain as a primary disabling condition may qualify for a secondary disability rating for a wide range of related conditions. These include joint injuries, nerve problems, muscular dysfunction, and mental health conditions.
Mental Health Conditions
Most people think of back pain as an exclusively physical condition. However, prolonged chronic back pain can additionally lead to the development of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. These conditions may result from poor sleep, mood changes, impacts on the quality of life, or a host of other causes related to chronic back pain.
Mental health conditions are a common basis for seeking secondary disability ratings. However, the possible ratings vary depending on the claimed condition.
- Depression: Many veterans suffer from disabling depression, and veterans with back pain are no exception. Studies show that 35 to 45 percent of people with chronic pain suffer from depression. The VA rates depression on a scale of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent, depending on the severity of depressive symptoms.
- Anxiety: Anxiety is another frequent basis for secondary disability ratings. Chronic back pain is a stressful condition, and a buildup of stress over time can spiral into anxiety disorders. In turn, stress and anxiety can worsen back pain, creating a vicious cycle in which an increase in one leads to an increase in the other. Like depression, the VA rates anxiety on a scale of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent, depending on the severity of symptoms.
Arthritis
Over one in three veterans suffer from arthritis. Arthritis is a catch-all condition for over 100 conditions affecting the joints and soft tissue around them, and the VA rates arthritis differently depending on its type. For instance, rheumatoid arthritis, a common form, is rated at 20, 40, 60, or 100 percent, depending on levels of incapacitation and general decline in health.
Radiculopathy
Radiculopathy involves compression or damage to a nerve in the spine, resulting in pain and other neurological symptoms. The VA rates radiculopathy differently based on the location of the affected nerve and the severity of symptoms. The rating particularly depends on whether patients experience partial or total paralysis.
Sciatica
Damage to the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body, is known as sciatica. Sciatica can cause pain, tingling, and numbness throughout the back and legs. It may result from an illness or injury or arise over time through repetitive stress. If you sustained a repetitive stress injury to your back while serving, continued back stress may develop into sciatica. The VA rates sciatica on different scales, depending on the presence of paralysis, neuralgia, or neuritis.
Hip Pain
Hip pain commonly occurs in conjunction with back pain. Hip pain may result from conditions like arthritis, muscle strain, and herniated discs. If a herniated disc is the cause of your service-connected back pain, you may be able to prove that it was additionally the cause of your hip pain. The VA rates hip pain differently, depending on its cause.
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence occurring simultaneously with back pain often signals a serious condition, such as cauda equina syndrome, or CES, which involves damage to the bundle of nerves below the lower end of the spinal cord. This symptom can also result from a number of spinal problems, including a herniated disc, a spinal tumor, or a spinal abscess. The VA rates urinary incontinence at 20, 40, or 60 percent, depending on factors such as leakage, bladder infections, and use of assistive devices.
VA Rating for Back Pain
The VA assesses a disability rating for back pain based on its musculoskeletal symptom rating schedule. The rating can range anywhere from 10 to 100 percent, based on the mobility of your spine. The schedule uses the terms “unfavorable” and “favorable” ankylosis. Ankylosis is when you have limited or no mobility in the spine. If ankylosis is favorable, your spine is straight. If it is unfavorable, it is stuck in a bent position.
Meanwhile, ratings for degenerative disc disease range from 10-60 percent based on the length and frequency of incapacitating symptoms a person has suffered over time.
How Are Multiple VA Ratings Combined?
When awarding secondary disability ratings, the VA uses the Combined Ratings Table to calculate a new total rating that accounts for multiple disabilities.
The calculation process consists of these steps:
- Rank the individual ratings in order from highest to lowest.
- Find the highest rating in the table’s top row.
- Find the second-highest rating in the left-side column.
- Locate the number where the row and column intersect.
- Round that number to the nearest 10 percent.
For veterans with more than two disability percentages, the steps continue:
- Find the intersecting number you just located on the left-hand column of the table.
- Find your lowest disability rating on the top row.
- Locate that new intersecting number and round to the nearest 10 percent.
Working through the Combined Ratings Table on your own can be complicated. The Veterans Guide VA Disability Calculator can help by estimating your rating eligibility.
How Are Multiple VA Ratings Combined?
Applying for a secondary VA rating might significantly increase your VA disability benefits. To receive secondary disability benefits, you must prove to the VA that you have an additional disability stemming from your service-connected back pain. You must complete and submit VA Form 21-526EZ, which can be done online, by mail, or at your local VA office.
You also need to provide evidence of your secondary disability with your application. Generally, this includes preexisting medical records, new medical results, and documents like nexus letters.
The VA may also ask you to undergo a Compensation & Pension or C&P exam. A VA doctor conducts the C&P exam, which assesses the nature and extent of your disability and may resolve discrepancies in your record. The exam itself is not determinative of your result, but it’s nonetheless an important test in terms of proving your case to the VA.
Receiving TDIU for Multiple Conditions
Total Disability Individual Unemployability benefits, or TDIU, are a type of VA disability benefit intended to compensate veterans who don’t have a 100 percent disability rating but still cannot maintain substantially gainful employment due to their service-connected disabilities.
TDIU is available to veterans with multiple conditions if the combined rating is at least 70 percent, with one condition rated 40 percent or more. For qualifying veterans, TDIU provides benefits equal to 100 percent disability without having a 100 percent rating.
We Can Help
If you’re a veteran with a disability rating, filing for a secondary rating might significantly increase your benefits. A knowledgeable advocate for disabled veterans can help you file a strong application for a secondary rating. Call Veterans Guide today at (888) 982-1009 or contact us through our website today.
Client Reviews
SHELLY DONNETT'E MILTON DAVIS Want to Increase Your VA Rating?
