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

[cooter]

Oh Yea, don't forget to sign your request! Also you should know that if you request your c;file at the time their working your claim it will be pulled and setting you back some extra time. Best thing to do is find out where it's at before requesting it. The ideal time to get your copy is in between claims when it's sitting idle at your RO. Depending which RO your working with can take months to get a copy. OR, you can just request to view your file and if there are some items you would like to have copies of, depending how many, they will normally copy them as you wait.

[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

pete53, im curious. you said it was only mentioned on your discharge evaluation. was it noted that you had some pes planus during entry at all? regardless of that, what was your pes planus diagnosis at discharge? mild/moderate/severe and asymptomatic or symptomatic...?

[Pete53]

They merely checked the box for flat feet on the form they used in 1970 and C&P confirmed. They asked if it bothered me after I left Army and I said yes.

[Sagacious]

They merely checked the box for flat feet on the form they used in 1970 and C&P confirmed. They asked if it bothered me after I left Army and I said yes.

wow, i hope its that easy for me, somehow i doubt it though.

stupid question, what is the VARO? is that the veterans commission representative that i make the claim with?

[cooter]

Veterans Administration Regional Office (VARO)

[Sagacious]

Veterans Administration Regional Office (VARO)

ok thanks. and just to be clear, once you make a claim and it is granted, you receive compensation for life, correct?