ptsd Tinitus

[jjrbus]

I've been visiting this site infrequently for some time. I am %50 PTSD and really have a hard time concentrating, so visiting here with all the abreviations ect can be quite frustrating, depending on the day of course.

I also have a GS wound to the R arm which is currently at %10. It has been under appeal since 1999 and is now at the Appeals Management Center for over a year.

I belive I will get %20 from what I have read. Also from what I have read this will amount to a zero dollar increse, if I am reading it right. However I will be at %70. Then can I file for individual unemployability?

I just read that someone is getting %10 for tinitus (ringing in ears) I have the kind of tinitus that only I can hear. I have had it for years, I have complained about it at the VA. Is this compensatable? How does one go about getting compensated for it?

Thanks Jim

[Philip Rogers]

I've been visiting this site infrequently for some time. I am %50 PTSD and really have a hard time concentrating, so visiting here with all the abreviations ect can be quite frustrating, depending on the day of course.

I also have a GS wound to the R arm which is currently at %10. It has been under appeal since 1999 and is now at the Appeals Management Center for over a year.

I belive I will get %20 from what I have read. Also from what I have read this will amount to a zero dollar increse, if I am reading it right. However I will be at %70. Then can I file for individual unemployability?

I just read that someone is getting %10 for tinitus (ringing in ears) I have the kind of tinitus that only I can hear. I have had it for years, I have complained about it at the VA. Is this compensatable? How does one go about getting compensated for it?

Thanks Jim

Jim,

You can file for TDIU now, no matter what your percentages total, see 38CFR4.16b. If the 50% PTSD award is less than a year old you can file a NOD on it requesting TDIU. If not you can file a claim just by sending a simple letter requesting TDIU. Tinnitis heard by others is not tinnitis it's noise. Tinnitis is acustic trauma to our hearing nerves by loud noises and only the patient hears it. It can be buzzing, ringing, cricket like, etc. Tinnitis is compensable at the 10% level. You'll need proof of noise exposure in the service or an MOS with duties exposing you to loud noises. To my knowledge there is no verifiable test for it.

pr

[Vike17]

jjrbus,

According to the combined ratings table a 50% + 10% = 55% rounded to 60%. A 50% + 20% = 60%, not 70% evaluation. based on these two evaluations you do not qualify for IU based on the schedular requirments, unless these disabilities are considered one etiology.

If you are unable to work due to your service-connected disabilities you should still submit the VA Form 21-8940. This also acts as a claim for an increase. Probably what will happen is the VA will see if your current disabilities can be raised to comply with the schedular requirements. If they can, then they will consider IU. If not, it's a very good bet they will deny the claim on that basis and not send it to Washington, D.C. for extra schedular approval. This is very rarely done! One thing to keep in mind is that if you unable to work soley due to your PTSD then the 100% evaluation is probably the correct evaluation based on its criteria. Also 70% would be considered for this situation based on its criteria. If you receive the 100% schedular rating then IU is a moot point. If the 70% is applied to your situation, then that qualifies you for IU.

Vike 17

[JohnM]

jjrbus:

I do not want to be negative about hearing loss and tinnitus: but the real fact is even if you can proof noise exposer for some reason it is hard to get a precentage. On JohnM's service medical papers it states hearing loss three times and they conceded on both because of combat but still denied him any precentage of course we filed NOD, we have not heard anything yet and that has been since March of this year. My Brother who also was in combat and demolition during his time in service was also denied. and I have read where others where denied. Please do not take this to negative but file for it, You need to fight for everything, do not let this slide it may take a long time but eventually you will win.

JohnM's wife Dianne

[vaf]

My husband, as well as other veterans we know who received 10% for bilateral tinnitus, were all denied on the first go around. NOD it, because an extra 10% for tinnitus can be the difference between rounding a rating up vs. rounding it down. We had to supply copies of my husband's active duty hearing tests over 20 years to show a pattern of increasing scores (indicating hearing problems) to prevail, even though he had initially reported a problem with ringing in his ears.

Civilian audiologists not working for the VA will tell you there is no bona fide test for tinnitus. The VA knows this, which is why they normally deny it, even though they may issue a 0% rating on "hearing loss" as they did in my husband's case. Go figure...

[huskerfanfl]

I was one of the lucky ones who was granted SC for tinitus right after I retired from the military. As part of my physical i was given a hearing test and asked to repeat some words but as far as the tinitus was concerned, they asked me what the symptoms were (mine sounds like a hearing test but constant) and asked me what I did in the military. I was on M1 tanks so I had main gun rounds and machine gun fire that I could point to and that was the end of that discussion.

[theotherguy]

I wouldn't say that you are not schedularly eligible for IU without a little more information. What was the basis of your PTSD grant? Even at 60%, you could qualify for IU if your PTSD is due to combat since your other disability is due to a gunshot wound. I have seen some decision makers liberally consider combat disabilities, including PTSD, as multiple disabilities incurred in action for the purposes of establishing a combination of conditions to a single 60% evaluation. There is likely some CAVC precedence or some BVA cases which you could search for similar grants.

They are far more likely to increase your PTSD evaluation to 70% and grant IU though if it is truly making you unemployable. While it would certainly seem appropriate for the VA to grant a 100% evaluation for PTSD if it truly is the sole reason for your unemployability, it is rare to see this without evidence of the symptoms that are listed in the criteria for the total disability evaluation.