Military service members can sustain injuries during service that cause long-term and permanent impairments even after the service member leaves the military. Various service injuries may qualify veterans for VA disability benefits. Many veterans suffer from back, knee, and other joint injuries due to service-related traumatic or stress injuries. When you have a disability due to a back, knee, or joint injury sustained in the military, understanding how the VA rates disabilities for those injuries can help you get the financial support you need and deserve.
How the VA Determines Disability Ratings
The VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) provides guidelines for VA claims examiners to evaluate and rate service-connected disabilities resulting from conditions such as back, knee, or joint injuries. The VASRD includes criteria that claims examiners use to determine a service-connected disability rating. The VA rates disability on a numerical scale of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or 100 percent. Specific conditions may have assigned percentage ratings, with veterans receiving the rating if their condition and symptoms meet the criteria for that rating.
The VA determines disability ratings based on a veteran’s medical records and diagnostic testing results from a compensation and pension exam conducted during the disability application process. Some veterans may also have multiple injuries that cause separate conditions. In those cases, the VA rates each condition and then uses a formula to calculate the veteran’s combined disability rating, incorporating all their service-connected conditions.
Back Injury Ratings
The VA rates back injuries based on the limitations on a veteran’s range of motion in their back due to their injury and the severity of incapacitating episodes caused by the injury. Mild impairment of the range of motion may lead to lower disability ratings. In contrast, severe limitations in range of motion caused by injuries or resulting surgical treatment for injuries (such as spinal fusion surgery) may lead to higher disability ratings.
Examples of specific back injuries and conditions recognized by the VA include:
- Vertebral fracture or dislocation
- Sacroiliac injury
- Lumbrosacral or cervical strain
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylolisthesis
- Degenerative arthritis or degenerative disc disease
- Intervertebral disc syndrome
- Traumatic paralysis
Knee and Joint Injury Ratings
The VASRD assesses various knee and joint injuries a veteran sustained in military service, such as arthritis, soft-tissue tears, or bursitis, based on factors including knee or other joint instability and limitations in the joint’s range of motion. As with back injuries, the more limited a veteran’s range of motion in their knee or other joint, the higher the disability rating they may receive from the VA.
Secondary Conditions and Combined Ratings
Veterans may have multiple back, knee, or joint injuries from their military service. Injuries or disabilities can also lead to new conditions, such as arthritis in other joints due to compensatory movements. When a veteran has two or more service-connected conditions or a primary condition and one or more secondary conditions (a separate condition caused or aggravated by a service-connected condition), the VA may assign the veteran a combined disability rating that incorporates all their qualifying conditions. The VA calculates combined disability ratings by rating each condition separately, then combining the veteran’s two highest-rated conditions to determine the combined rating. Next, the VA will use the combined rating and the veteran’s next-highest-rated condition to determine the new combined rating. The VA then repeats that process until it has incorporated all the veteran’s conditions, rounding the combined rating to the nearest ten.
Contact a VA Disability Benefits Attorney Today
When you have a disability due to back, knee, or joint injuries you sustained during military service, you might qualify for financial benefits through the VA. Contact Veterans Law Attorneys today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a VA disability benefits attorney to learn more about disability ratings that you might receive when you have a permanent impairment due to a service-connected back, knee, or joint injury.
