hearing loss Tinnitus reopened with PTSD approval

[USAF cop]

In late July, 2016, I reapplied for PTSD and hearing loss/tinnitus. I was approved for 50% PTSD in late September, 2016 after a grueling 20 year fight with the VA. Why is the VA so many faceted toward us veterans? Not going to go into that here...  But I was turned down AGAIN for hearing loss even though the VA gave me hearing aids in 2010, and falsified results of a new hearing test in 2013 (by doing just the "point my finger in the air" when I heard a tone, with my back turned and simple headphones on my head) when attempting to replace my hearing aids which were stolen with almost $13,000 of my personal property that was in my truck in 2012.

 

They threw out the tinnitus claim several times, and only recently when the VA miraculously approved my PTSD but still expectedly denied my hearing loss AGAIN,  the VA REOPENED MY TINNITUS CASE. It is at a level that it interferes with daily life and causes added stress that causes the VA to prescribe me a mouthguard in 2010 to stop me from grinding my teeth in my sleep. 

What would be my next steps. The notifications and decisions all came in September 2017.

I will post other questions that are separate. 

 

"All things are possible to him that believes." Mark 9:23

[broncovet]

YOu need to break your hearing loss claim down into 2 parts, because VA does:

1.  Service connection.  You have to document that

a) you have a current diagnosis of hearing loss

b) you have a documetned in service event or aggravation.  Ok, if you have been diagnosed with a senso nueral hearing loss, this could be from noise exposure.  If you allege noise exposure in military service caused your hearing loss, then you should have documentation, such as exposure to jet engines, gun noise, expolosions etc.

c)  a nexus, or statment by an audiologist or doctor that your heaing loss is at least as likely as not due to noise exposure in service.  

2.  AFTER you get sc for hearing loss, then you can get retested as to the degree of hearing loss.  Do not skip over any of the steps above but read your file to make sure. 

(disability percentage).  Sadly, you have to be extremely hard of hearing to get 10 percent or more sc for hearing loss.  I got rated 0% even tho I have  worn hearing aids for 10 years.  Also, I can not watch a movie without close captions EVEN WHEN I have my hearing aids in.  Exception:  If its a movie at home, and if I can blue tooth the sound into my hearing aids, I can actually hear them.  Its a special device that VA got for me that works with my TV, hearing aids, and a device that goes around my neck, linking my aids, and the TV together.  

Edited January 22, 2017 by broncovet

[USAF cop]

On 1/21/2017 at 6:27 PM, broncovet said:

YOu need to break your hearing loss claim down into 2 parts, because VA does:

1.  Service connection.  You have to document that

a) you have a current diagnosis of hearing loss

b) you have a documetned in service event or aggravation.  Ok, if you have been diagnosed with a senso nueral hearing loss, this could be from noise exposure.  If you allege noise exposure in military service caused your hearing loss, then you should have documentation, such as exposure to jet engines, gun noise, expolosions etc.

c)  a nexus, or statment by an audiologist or doctor that your heaing loss is at least as likely as not due to noise exposure in service.  

2.  AFTER you get sc for hearing loss, then you can get retested as to the degree of hearing loss.  Do not skip over any of the steps above but read your file to make sure. 

(disability percentage).  Sadly, you have to be extremely hard of hearing to get 10 percent or more sc for hearing loss.  I got rated 0% even tho I have  worn hearing aids for 10 years.  Also, I can not watch a movie without close captions EVEN WHEN I have my hearing aids in.  Exception:  If its a movie at home, and if I can blue tooth the sound into my hearing aids, I can actually hear them.  Its a special device that VA got for me that works with my TV, hearing aids, and a device that goes around my neck, linking my aids, and the TV together.  

I was really only wanting to know about the tinnitus. 

[jbasser]

As long as your doctor or examiner states tinnitus is recurrent you should get it. 10 percent is the rating for it. 

Thats the bottom line.

 

Jbasser

[USAF cop]

8 hours ago, jbasser said:

As long as your doctor or examiner states tinnitus is recurrent you should get it. 10 percent is the rating for it. 

Thats the bottom line.

 

Jbasser

Yeah... I told every single VA medical staff along the way *for the past 20 years* as well as the C & P examiner last August that I have recurrent tinnitus, and it's splattered through my notes and records like a bad case of projectile diarrhea... And they still ignore it. At least in my approval envelope for PTSD it is classed as "reopened." All I'm asking for is where to go from here. Now that it's been reopened. I'm new here at hadit, but I'm absolutely not new to the demonic tactics the VA uses against us. I'm just looking for new information to use for direction on what to do next. If someone can really help me. After looking on this site for several years, I've seen some really good information and there are some knowledgeable people. So I'm not giving up hope that one or two of them will step forward and tell me something that actually applies to my future not my past. I'm hopeful... 

[Buck52]

 You have until Sept 2017 to appeal the denial on the tinnitus. (right?)

let  the Audiologist know about it (tinnitus) after you take a hearing test and describe it to them, they will ask you if it comes and goes?...you need to state its always  there (its constant) in my head and drives me flat out crazy !

There is no Testing for Tinnitus  so veterans need to let the Dr's Know you have it.

Note:

Anytime you feel a VA Hearing test did not go to well  for whatever reason...simply ask the Dr to retake the test or reschedule you a re-take because you feel the test that was just performed was not accurate or that you didn't understand the instructions of the test &  with your back to the Dr and  point your finger up in the air when you heard a sound come through the headphones...just state your reason you feel the test would not be sufficient for rating purposes ...and be honest about all of it.

you can also ask when was this equipment last calibrated (date) and ask the recommended dates that this equipment must be Re-calibrated ?

And Request another test be performed.   you have that right!

Edited January 23, 2017 by Buck52

[USAF cop]

1 hour ago, Buck52 said:

 You have until Sept 2017 to appeal the denial on the tinnitus. (right?)

let  the Audiologist know about it (tinnitus) after you take a hearing test and describe it to them, they will ask you if it comes and goes?...you need to state its always  there (its constant) in my head and drives me flat out crazy !

There is no Testing for Tinnitus  so veterans need to let the Dr's Know you have it.

Note:

Anytime you feel a VA Hearing test did not go to well  for whatever reason...simply ask the Dr to retake the test or reschedule you a re-take because you feel the test that was just performed was not accurate or that you didn't understand the instructions of the test &  with your back to the Dr and  point your finger up in the air when you heard a sound come through the headphones...just state your reason you feel the test would not be sufficient for rating purposes ...and be honest about all of it.

you can also ask when was this equipment last calibrated (date) and ask the recommended dates that this equipment must be Re-calibrated ?

And Request another test be performed.   you have that right!

Still waiting for someone to point to the future and not the past... Thanks for trying.

The tinnitus was denied a long, long time ago, many times. Always appealed, always denied. When I got death threats and had to hide for awhile, all my VA stuff went bye bye for a while, deadlines came and went. 

As I said before, in July 2016 I restarted my claim for PTSD and was immediately approved (I guess the VA didn't want to pay 20 years of backpay) with the tinnitus being REOPENED. 

I have a great group working on all of it and they give me great answers when I ask. And they know my case. But they're exceptionally busy. 

My case is so convoluted (isn't everybody's?) that to start fresh with you all, I'd need to write a book. But I won't. Even though that's the only way to get answers that are pertinent to my questions. 

Regarding talking to the doctors about my tinnitus, as I said, I talk to them about it every time. Whether it's my PC doctor or a nurse or a C&P examiner... They all know that it is constant, that it drives me batty. That's why the VA prescribed me a mouthguard to stop me grinding my teeth in my sleep because of the tinnitus (and PTSD). In my records. 

I may just stick to my group about this because the answers I'm getting are daily experiences with me, or 20 years of experience, or common knowledge. 

But I won't say anything bad about the info, because there might be someone who is just starting on their tinnitus claim, unlike me, who doesn't know where to begin. Your answers above, though useless to me, might benefit a newbie.