10 Conditions VA Commonly Rates

1. Sleep apnea

Loud snoring, gasping for air, or daytime fatigue.

• Rated 0 to 100 percent under 38 CFR 4.97, DC 6847
• 50 percent if you use a breathing device such as a CPAP machine
• 30 percent for persistent daytime sleepiness; 0 percent if you're diagnosed but symptom-free
• Two things decide the claim: a sleep study proving the diagnosis, and a doctor's prescription for the machine. A CPAP bought on your own, without either, rates nothing.

2. GERD (acid reflux)

Chronic heartburn, regurgitation, or throat irritation.

• Since May 19, 2024, GERD has its own code, DC 7206 — it's no longer rated like a hernia
• The rating is built around a stricture (a narrowing of the esophagus) confirmed by testing, and runs from 0 up to 80 percent for a stricture severe enough to cause weight loss or poor nutrition
• Heartburn controlled by over-the-counter medicine, with no stricture, is often rated 0 percent — service-connected, but no monthly check

3. Migraines

Not just "frequent and severe" — it's about what the attack does to you.

• Rated 0 to 50 percent under 38 CFR 4.124a, DC 8100
• The rating turns on prostrating attacks — attacks that stop you and put you down, not just headaches that hurt
• 10 percent: prostrating attacks about once every 2 months. 30 percent: about once a month. 50 percent: very frequent, completely prostrating attacks that seriously limit your ability to work
• Frequent, severe headaches that are not prostrating rate 0 percent

4. Tinnitus

Ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears.

• The single most-claimed service-connected disability in the whole VA system
• Only one tinnitus rating is ever assigned, no matter if it's one ear, both ears, or your head (38 CFR 4.87, DC 6260)
• But that one rating is separately payable — it combines with a hearing loss rating instead of replacing it. Claim both if you have both.

5. Plantar fasciitis

Heel pain that won't go away.

• Rated under 38 CFR 4.71a, DC 5269, up to 30 percent depending on severity
• Get it diagnosed, and describe how it limits standing and walking

6. TMD (jaw disorder)

VA's current name for it is temporomandibular disorder — not "TMJ."

• Rated under 38 CFR 4.150, DC 9905, by how far you can open your jaw in millimeters (a normal opening is 35–50 mm)
• At 30–34 mm: 10 percent alone, 20 percent if you're on a documented soft diet, 30 percent on a documented full-liquid diet — the diet can triple the rating at the same opening
• Pain, clicking, or locking with a normal opening rates 0 percent by itself
• Stress or teeth grinding alone doesn't connect you to VA — the condition has to be tied to your service directly, or to a condition you're already service-connected for (a jaw injury, or a service-connected mental health condition, for example)

7. Depression secondary to chronic pain

Living with chronic pain can wear on your mental health — that's claimable too.

• A disability caused by a condition you're already service-connected for is itself service-connected (38 CFR 3.310(a)) — you need a doctor's opinion in the record linking the two
• If a service-connected condition makes a separate, non-service-connected condition worse, VA can connect the worsening — but only to the extent of that worsening, and only with medical evidence of how the condition stood before it got worse. Get that baseline documented as early as you can.

8. Sciatica

Nerve pain, tingling, or numbness running down your leg.

• Can be secondary to a service-connected back condition (38 CFR 3.310, 4.124a)
• Tie it to the back condition in your claim, with a doctor's opinion connecting the two

9. Knee instability

Buckling, giving way, or a knee that feels loose — separate from arthritis pain.

• Instability and arthritis of the same knee can both be rated, at the same time (VAOPGCPREC 23-97)
• Instability (DC 5257), current since February 7, 2021: 10 percent for a diagnosed ligament sprain or tear causing lasting instability with no brace prescribed; 20 percent where a doctor prescribes a brace or an assistive device like a cane; 30 percent for an unrepaired or failed-repair complete tear needing both. Claims from before that date may still use the older rules if they pay more.
• Arthritis (DC 5003): the separate rating does not require your knee motion to be bad enough to pay on its own. X-ray evidence of arthritis plus painful motion is enough for at least 10 percent per joint (VAOPGCPREC 9-98; 38 CFR 4.59).

10. Hearing loss

Difficulty hearing conversations.

• Only counts once a hearing test meets VA's threshold (38 CFR 3.385): 40 decibels or more at any tested frequency, or 26 decibels or more at three or more frequencies, or a word-recognition score under 94 percent on the Maryland CNC test
• The rating then comes off a table under 38 CFR 4.85, DC 6100 — a lot of service-connected hearing loss comes back at 0 percent, service-connected but no monthly check
• That's still not nothing: it's on your record, it can qualify you for VA hearing aids if the loss affects your ability to communicate (38 CFR 17.149), and it preserves your right to file for an increase if your hearing gets worse

Why "secondary" matters

A condition caused by, or made worse by, a condition you're already rated for is itself service-connected. That's 38 CFR 3.310, and it's the rule behind items 7 and 8 above, and part of 6.

• Direct link: a doctor's opinion that the new condition is at least as likely as not caused by the service-connected one
• Worsening (aggravation): VA pays only for the extra severity your service-connected condition caused — and won't credit it without medical evidence of how bad the other condition was before it got worse

Know your deadlines

• Higher-Level Review — 1 year from the decision
• Board Appeal — 1 year from the decision
• Supplemental Claim (Form 20-0995) — no filing deadline, but new and relevant evidence is required, and you must file within 1 year of the decision to keep your original effective date. File later, and your effective date becomes the date VA receives the supplemental claim.
• Contested claim — 60 days, Board only

Buddy and lay statements count

Every condition on this page is one that commonly went undocumented on active duty. An absent in-service diagnosis does not end the matter.

• A statement from someone who served with you, describing what they saw, is evidence VA must consider
• Your own statement, describing when symptoms started and that they've continued since, counts too