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Back and lumbar spine conditions are rated on range of motion and neurological effects, and often bring secondary radiculopathy claims. Exam adequacy drives many remands.
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 5237 (back/lumbar conditions are rated within the spine codes 5235–5243)
The VA treats back and lumbar (low-back) problems as musculoskeletal disabilities and rates almost all of them using one set of rules: the "General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine" in 38 CFR 4.71a. This formula covers diagnostic codes 5235 through 5243, which include things like lumbosacral strain (code 5237), degenerative arthritis or degenerative disc disease (code 5242), spinal stenosis (code 5238), spondylolisthesis (code 5239), and intervertebral disc syndrome, or IVDS (code 5243). To be service-connected in the first place, the evidence generally has to show the back injury or disease was incurred in or aggravated by your military service (38 CFR 3.303).
For most back conditions, the rating percentage is driven mainly by how far you can bend your lower (thoracolumbar) spine, measured with a tool called a goniometer at a C&P exam. Under the spine formula, forward flexion greater than 60 but not more than 85 degrees (or muscle spasm/guarding/tenderness) supports 10 percent; flexion greater than 30 but not more than 60 degrees (or spasm severe enough to cause an abnormal gait or spinal contour) supports 20 percent; flexion of 30 degrees or less, or favorable ankylosis (the spine fused) of the whole thoracolumbar spine, supports 40 percent; unfavorable ankylosis of the whole thoracolumbar spine supports 50 percent; and unfavorable ankylosis of the entire spine supports 100 percent. The rules also say that any related nerve problems (like radiating pain, or bowel or bladder impairment) are rated separately under their own code, and that IVDS can instead be rated on "incapacitating episodes"—flare-ups needing bed rest prescribed and treated by a physician—if that gives a higher result.
Back and lumbar conditions usually do not have a special exposure-based presumptive pathway. Programs like Agent Orange, burn pits, Camp Lejeune, and the PACT Act are generally tied to illnesses such as certain cancers and respiratory conditions, not mechanical back injuries, so most back claims are built on direct service connection rather than a presumption that removes the nexus (link) burden. One related exception: arthritis is a listed "chronic disease" under 38 CFR 3.309(a), so if arthritis of the spine becomes noticeable to a degree of at least 10 percent within one year of leaving service, the presumptive rules in 38 CFR 3.307 may help connect it to service.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work, not legal advice or a VA decision about your individual claim.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 185,176 Board decisions mentioning Back / lumbar spine
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are whole-decision outcomes, not condition-specific success rates or a prediction of your case.
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These are decision-level labels in granted or partly granted decisions mentioning Back / lumbar spine. They do not establish which theory succeeded for this condition.
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