Pes Planus, Aggravated. Claim?>

[Sagacious]

so, i've been having recent problems with foot swelling/edema, tingling in the foot and my podiatrist said my pes planus (flat foot) is severe. the pooling of blood/fluid in my foot has left discolorations due to iron deposits. she also found an old injury (during the time of military service) the bone that my tibial tendon attaches to had fractured at one point but is healed now.

my question is, im having all these problems now and my current doc rates me at severe pes planus. when i look through my Military medical record all the way back to MEPS, my initial diagnosis was Mild and Asymptomatic Pes Planus. thats all i have in my service record, do you think that will be enough? i dont have any other comments about it during service because i never wanted to complain during/after a big hike. im hoping the difference of diagnosis between MEPS and NOW will be enough evidence. if so, anyone have any idea of what rating i would receive from the problems described? thanks

[Pete53]

I am rated 30% for pes planus with only the mention of it on discharge physical. I understand depending on severity it can be rated more.

It should not be a problem for you to get a rating on this.

Good Luck

[Sagacious]

I am rated 30% for pes planus with only the mention of it on discharge physical. I understand depending on severity it can be rated more.

It should not be a problem for you to get a rating on this.

Good Luck

ok, do you think i should try to avoid doing multiple claims at once? i have already put in for a claim for hiatal hernia a few months ago, still pending. i dont want to seem like im bombarding the VA. does it matter?

[cooter]

That's a million dollar question that members here at Hadit can't come up with an answer that everybody will agree with. But a known fact is, submitting other claims while another is pending has the tendency to slow the process. JMO, if it's only been a couple of months since your claim has been submitted, I would go ahead and submit it now. MY reasoning is, why wait a year or so before the pending claim is adjudicated and then turn around and wait another year or so for the other claim. Also the fact VA has a priority working with all the Nehmur cases to finish, which I believe is the reason our claims are taking so long. On the other hand, if your claim is close to being in the decision stage then I would hold back submitting other claims. Like I said, this is only MY opinion. You do what you feel more comfortable with!

[Sagacious]

i think i tend to agree with you on the timelines. I was more or less worried that the VA might see it as a red flag if im trying to put in a bunch of claims. although im only putting in for two....i didnt want skepticism of being someone "working the system" this is probably an unwarranted concern of mine but i wanted to ask. since everything is truthful and backed with evidence, i shouldnt have anything to worry about i guess.

[cooter]

.i didnt want skepticism of being someone "working the system"

Please don't ever think that! You NEED to claim EVERYTHING you think you deserve. You damn well earned it!

[Sagacious]

.i didnt want skepticism of being someone "working the system"

Please don't ever think that! You NEED to claim EVERYTHING you think you deserve. You damn well earned it!

yes sir!

:) thank you though, you're right. i also thought they might take the claim less seriously if you going for multiple. but again, probably not a real world concern.

i already have 10% for tinnitus. trying for hiatal hernia and pes planus. my service record is also riddled with back pain comments, when i look back at the beginning, i had no comments during MEPS, it all started after the deployment. the VA did a spine x-ray and said everything looked good. i think i'll get a second opinion from my regular doc and try to find out whats going on.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Sagacious