The bone in your upper arm is called your humerus, and your collarbone is called your clavicle. Veterans CANNOT have a total Combined rating for places in the body higher than a Veteran who had those areas amputated. Tucson, AZ: One South Church Avenue, 12th Floor, Tucson, AZ, 85701 VA Disability for Shoulder and Arm Injuries. If your musculoskeletal condition inhibits your range of motion significantly, you are more likely to receive a higher disability rating from the VA. These cookies dont collect information that identifies you. As more veterans serve flying drones or fighting from behind a desk, there will be more with long-term back pain from sitting too long. These cookies collect information about how you use our website. Rotator cuffs, dislocations, and poorly healed bones all contribute to long-term disabilities in veterans. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. If your claim has been approved, you will be given a specific disability rating between ten and 100 percent. The joint should allow the arm to move in multiple directions without any pain. Shoulders are incredibly complex, composed of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Why Hire CCK for Your VA Disability Appeal? Many Different Conditions Could Be Causing Your Shoulder Pain, 2. Portland, OR: 650 N. E. Holladay Street, Suite 1600, Portland, OR, 97232 Many. Yes. If you break your humeral neck and the bone doesnt heal back together, youll receive a rating of either 60 percent or 50 percent. You can file for a rotator cuff injury as a secondary service connection if it was caused by a primary service connection. You can struggle with aches and pains of varying severity throughout any given week, and your condition can even improve or worsen throughout the day. This may be achieved by having one serious condition that is rated at least 60% or more, though will more likely be the result of having several conditions related to the service. As anyone with musculoskeletal problems will know, your range of motion may vary from day-to-day. There are six different ratings, from 0% to 50%, listed as follows: As the chart above shows, extending the knee straight out with extension less than 5 degrees of being completely straight, a Veteran will be given a 0% rating. You can expect the C&P examiner to ask questions about your shoulder pain, how it started, what makes it worse, and what treatments youve tried. This is why workers compensation claims may be filed even though the surgery was actually a result of a problem that one experienced in the service. Our lawyers are committed to helping veterans get disability compensation. Copy this embed code to share the infographic on your own site. During this procedure, a VA doctor will examine your injuries. Finally, if the amputation is below the deltoid but above the elbow, it is rated 80 percent for the dominant arm and 70 percent for the non-dominant arm (Diagnostic Code 5122). Bone and Joints Disability Ratings Table 4.71a Schedule of ratingsmusculoskeletal system. This can be difficult because the symptoms limiting functional loss are not usually related to range of motion. Physical therapy is a professional career which has many specialties including musculoskeletal, orthopedics, cardiopulmonary, neurology, endocrinology, sports medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, women's health, wound care and electromyography. 132K views 9 years ago Dr. Ebraheim's educational animated video describes the range of motion of the Shoulder Joint, and the ways to check for any medical problem associated with it's. Understanding How Flare-Ups Impact Range of Motion Claims, Alternatively, they might suffer from more stiffness and loss of range of motion throughout the day. If you break your clavicle or scapula and you have trouble controlling your arm afterward, youll receive a rating of 20 percent. All of the criteria include severe, moderately severe, moderate, or slight and corresponds to a disability rating ranging from 0 to 40 percent. How to Service Connect Your Shoulder Pain, Direct Service Connection for a VA Rating for Shoulder Pain, Secondary Service Connection for a Shoulder Pain VA Rating, 3. VA Disability Rating 20% Condition Arthritis, degenerative (hypertrophic or osteoarthritis). Phoenix, AZ: One Renaissance Tower, Two North Central Avenue, 18th & 19th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004 If you injure the bones in your shoulder badly enough, you may need to have ashoulder replacement. Strain and disabilities to the shoulders are common during deployment, training, and combat. The examiner will look for how your shoulder functions when you move your arm and how far you can move before you feel pain. Not being able to use your shoulder can affect your ability to work and limit daily life. It certainly is nice to have someone as caring and understanding as Woods and Woods to help fight your case and keep you current on all phases of the procedure. 203, San Jose, CA 95134 VA FORM JAN 2011 . The code also takes into account whether the dominant or non-dominant side is affected. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. A fluid-filled sac called a joint capsule surrounds the joint and provides lubrication to ease movement in the shoulder. By continuing to use our website, you agree to these updates. Is applying for VA benefits years after service allowed? Have you been affected by Camp Lejeune water contamination? If your shoulder aches from time to time when it rains, youre likely to get 10 percent disability. The Department of Veterans Affairs says of this condition that, when established via X-rays, the VA disability rating will be made "on the basis of limitation of motion under the appropriate diagnostic codes for the specific joint or joints involved. It is also important to note that you cannot receive two different ratings for effects stemming from the same root cause. In addition to testing for initial range of motion, your VA physician should also check your repetitive motion to see if there is a higher degree of functional loss afterward. I cant thank you enough! If you have to have your arm amputated below the deltoid, youll receive a 70 percent rating, with all of these falling under code 5200. A rotator cuff tear caused by a shoulder injury will generally result in acute pain directly after it occurs. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form. And if you can raise your arm to 90 degrees, or level with your shoulder, youll get a disability rating of 20 percent, no matter which arm the injury is on. Specifically, the VA examines ranges of motion for the cervical spine, or the neck and upper back, and the thoracolumbar spine or lower back. You must visit a VA-approved physician to get this diagnosis and receive documentation of it. Disclaimer: This information is not legal advice. Six months after discontinuance of such treatment, the appropriate disability rating shall be determined by mandatory VA examination. If you feel that your claim has been denied wrongly, you can make an appeal with the help of an attorney. Attorney Gang is frequently in the news with commentary on issues affecting veterans. If you have to have a shoulder replacement, the VA will place you on100 percent disabilityfor the first year after the surgery and you will get a code of 5051. Since 2008, we've helped thousands of Veterans get the VA Disability benefits they deserve. If you have a disability rating of 100 percent, one child, a dependent spouse, and two parents relying on you, you could receive more than $3,621.95 every month. We are sorry that this post was not as useful for you! If youve lost your humeral head entirely, a condition known as flail shoulder, youll get a disability rating of 80 percent for a dominant arm or 70 percent for a non-dominant one. So if youre rated based on your musculoskeletal system, dont expect a rating for a muscle injury unless its a different condition. This is the most common knee problem eligible for VA disability benefits, with ratings that typically range from 10% to 30%. With extensive experience working with VA disability claims, Berry Law can help you with your disability appeals. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established. Significant injuries from training or combat are a common source of chronic disability for veterans. Its also important to remember that certain arm conditions, shoulder bursitis, frozen shoulder syndrome,rheumatoid arthritis, and or nerves may result in similar symptoms to a tear. Flexor muscles of elbow: (1) Biceps; (2) brachialis; (3) brachioradialis. Your VA disability rating for this type of injury will receive a code of 5201 and will be based on whether your dominant or non-dominant arm is injured and how severe your limitation is. SECTION IV - INITIAL RANGE OF MOTION (ROM) MEASUREMENTS. They are not intended as a guarantee that we will obtain the same or similar results in every case we undertake. Payments for ratings of 30 percent and above depend on whether you have a dependent spouse and/or children. For instance, the Painful Motion principle states that if you have any pain when you move the joint, you are entitled to the minimum disability rating for that body part. Rotator cuff tears can severely limit a persons range of motion, which may qualify them for disability benefits based on their inability to work. Well cover the different types of shoulder injuries that can qualify for disability benefits, how the VA rates shoulder injuries, and what evidence is needed to support a claim. It only provides that VA policy is to recognize actually painful motion as entitled to at least the minimum compensable evaluation for the joint When each qualifying joint motion is painful but motion is not actually limited to a compensable degree under its applicable 52XX-series DC, only one compensable evaluation can be assigned In contrast, pyramiding is a practice prohibited by VA, and refers to when a veteran has two disability ratings for a single manifestation of their disability. But some injuries cause that ball topop out of its socket joint. The Diagnostic Codes under 38 CFR 4.73 for shoulder and arm conditions are split into six groups based on the limitation of motion of the different affected muscles. As with most medical conditions,. We know the pain of feeling stuck, frustrated, and alone, and we want to make this process as easy and painless as possible for you. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Thanks. The VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities provides a basis for service connection and rating each disability. Veterans who have a disability resulting from a shoulder injury during service may be entitled to VA benefits. When these muscles are overused or subjected to undue force, the tendons may tear from the stress. Veterans may be eligible to receive as much as 50% disability compensation. Random flare-ups are common in. There are also a range of other diseases, injuries, and conditions that can impact your shoulder function. Finally, veterans must show a connection between in-service injury or disease and the present disability. His victories for veterans are often featured in mainstream news, including the Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News, Sacramento Bee, and others, as well as in many military publications. Date, circumstances of onset, and course since onset. Your military records are important. Many musculoskeletal conditions are rated based on the range of motion, a mostly testable measure of how much loss of function the disability causes. This is often based on if you can rotate or extend your shoulder, using the criteria listed above. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. The right law firm can help you present these facts to the VA so you may receive your rightful VA disability benefits. The VA appeals process starts at your regional Department Of Veterans Affairs Office. The description of the events must be verifiable and they present a clear narrative of what happened. The VA's painful motion rule entitles a veteran to a 10% rating even if they don't meet the specific diagnostic criteria as . How do I apply to receive my ratings? The Schedule of Ratings for the musculoskeletal system is found at 38 C.F.R 4.71a, and it contains numerous subcategories. VA may request a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam to examine the veterans shoulder or arm condition. The VA disability rating for shoulder rotator cuff tear is typically around 10%-20%. In these cases, youll receive the maximum rating for loss of use of that arm. disability that limits your range of motion, you are entitled to disability compensation. What to Expect At Your VA C&P Exam for Your Shoulder Pain. Each measurement is rounded to the nearest five degrees. If you have a disability claim with the VA that you would like to appeal, please contact our team at (888) 682-0786 to schedule a free case evaluation. And you must be able to provide a medical nexus linking your condition to the in-service event that caused it. Veterans who lost an arm, hand, or finger during military service are eligible for VA disability benefits and other compensation. If your disability has dramatically impaired your range of motion, the VA should recognize that you need and deserve disability benefits to support yourself and your loved ones. This can lead to multiple painful dislocations or prevent you from using the shoulder or lifting your arm. Since that time, we have provided compassionate The attorneys at Berry Law Firm are dedicated to helping injured Veterans. VA disability is awarded because you were injured while serving, regardless of the glory of the job. Learn More About VA Ratings for Losing an Arm or Fingers. While we still have our home base in Florida, If you cant raise your arm to the front or side more than 25 degrees, youll get a disability rating of 40 percent for a dominant arm and 30 percent for a non-dominant arm.