Looking for Accurate Information - Joint Pain / Radiculopathy

[KMac1181]

Hello,

Please forgive me if this is not the correct location; I'm admittedly a bit lost in navigating the forums.  I discovered this site during hours of Googling and Reddit perusing, but still have not found what I'm looking for.

The first item I have a question about is how the VA *actually* rates shoulder pain, when there is no LOM.  Based on what I've read, the VA will grant the veteran the minimum compensation for a specific joint, but how do you determine the DC or minimum rating?  If it's painful to laterally raise your arms both in front of you and out to the side, but you have essentially full ROM still, how will the VA actually rate that?  Is the minimum per side for shoulders 10% or 20%?  The internet is full of conflicting information, and the VA's documentation doesn't specify this exact question (or I'm just an idiot).

The second question I have is IRT a DBQ for lumbar radiculopathy.  In this case, the VA's Rating Schedule is ambiguous; terms like "mild", "moderate", and "severe" are on the DBQ, but the schedule of ratings does nothing to expound on what symptoms classify each descriptor.  Will the VA rate radiculopathy based on the boxes that are checked in the DBQ?  If the Veteran's Peripheral Nerves Conditions DBQ has all symptoms checked as "Moderate" and "Incomplete Paralysis", will the VA actually award a 20% rating for each side?

Finally, on the same Peripheral Nerves Conditions DBQ, does the VA assign ratings for each nerve group that is affected?  If both the Sciatic nerve and Femoral Nerve are marked as having "Moderate incomplete paralysis", will each nerve receive it's own rating, or are they bunched together as mental health conditions?

Please forgive the lack of brevity.  I'm currently going through a MEDBOARD with 21 years of active service, and I want to have the most accurate information moving forward in the event I need to appeal.  These specific outcomes will likely be the determining factor in whether I receive a 90% overall rating vs. a 100% rating, so I'm really stressing it.  I'm hoping one of them is actually 20% per side.

Any and all insight on the above questions is *greatly* appreciated.  Thank you for your time,

Shaun

[broncovet]

It sounds like you are still in the military if you are being medboarded.  

The best advice I have, for now, is for you to apply for Va benefits within a year, with certainty, of your discharge from military service.  There are many reasons to do so.  Example:

You get a entrance physical before service.  When you get out, you get an exit physical.  

For the next 12 months, you get a bit of a pass.  In other words, if you were healthy when you entered service, and had disorders or conditions upon exit from service, then those pretty much are presumptive service connected, but only if you apply within a year (but dont wait that long) of service.  

Further, when you apply within a year of exit from service, if awarded, you get an effective date back to one day after discharge.  

Med board rating is different from va rating, and are often low balled.  

I cant   advise on appealing med board rulings/ratings, but I can still suggest your apply for VA benefits, and do so within a year of your discharge.  

 

Edited September 27 by broncovet

[brokensoldier244th]

You can also apply up to 180 days before RAD, And have it run along side you're Med Board. That way most of it's done before you get out

[Rattler]

3 hours ago, brokensoldier244th said:

You can also apply up to 180 days before RAD, And have it run along side you're Med Board. That way most of it's done before you get out

If you do this it will make it much easier to get rated with the VA.

[KMac1181]

10 hours ago, brokensoldier244th said:

You can also apply up to 180 days before RAD, And have it run along side you're Med Board. That way most of it's done before you get out

If RAD = Retire from Active Duty, then yep, that’s what the IDES version of the MEDBOARD does; you submit all of your VA claims while still active duty.  DoD reviews your referred MEDBOARD conditions in tandem with the VA claims you submit, and then you get both ratings at the same time.  I’m at the step where I’m waiting for those ratings to come back.  All I have right now are copies of the DBQs from QTC.  Ratings are expected mid-December.

[Rattler]

Yup it's a waiting game. I have heard that they take their sweet time. I went to the ABMC to have mine upgraded to a medical retirement. With 20 years in you will have to decide whether you will get more money from Military Medical Retirement or VA. I am guessing the VA you will get a bigger check and there is no tax.

Mine will be really interesting as the VA will have to pay me back to 1977.

What part of the country are you in?

 

[KMac1181]

3 hours ago, Rattler said:

Yup it's a waiting game. I have heard that they take their sweet time. I went to the ABMC to have mine upgraded to a medical retirement. With 20 years in you will have to decide whether you will get more money from Military Medical Retirement or VA. I am guessing the VA you will get a bigger check and there is no tax.

Mine will be really interesting as the VA will have to pay me back to 1977.

What part of the country are you in?

 

I'm in California.

So funny enough, the DoD just informed me today that they are willing to work around my issues and found me fit for continued service, which I'm genuinely shocked about.  I guess it's in-part because I'm within 12 months of my EAOS and I'm eligible for retirement (currently over 20 years active service).

Back pay through 1977 seems like an astronomical amount of money..?