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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 7800, 7801, 7802, 7804, 7805
A scar is a mark left on the skin after a wound, burn, or surgery heals. The VA can pay disability for scars when they are "service-connected" — meaning the injury, surgery, or burn that caused the scar happened during your military service, or was caused by another service-connected condition. The basic rule for direct service connection is that there must be a current condition that is linked to your time in service (38 CFR 3.303). Scars are usually easy to tie to a documented in-service wound or operation because the cause is right there in your records.
The VA rates scars under 38 CFR 4.118 using a small group of diagnostic codes: 7800 for scars or disfigurement of the head, face, or neck; 7801 for scars elsewhere on the body that are deep (with underlying soft-tissue damage); 7802 for surface scars without soft-tissue damage; 7804 for scars that are unstable or painful; and 7805 for any other scar or for disabling effects not already counted. What drives a higher percentage depends on the code. For head, face, or neck scars (7800), ratings of 10, 30, 50, or 80 percent are based on the number of "characteristics of disfigurement" (such as length, width, depth, color, or texture changes) and on visible tissue loss or distortion of facial features. For body scars (7801), ratings of 10 to 40 percent are based on the total area covered, in square inches or square centimeters. For painful or unstable scars (7804), ratings of 10, 20, or 30 percent are based on how many scars are painful or unstable, and an extra 10 percent can be added when a scar is both painful and unstable.
A helpful detail in the rules is that scars can sometimes be rated more than once. A scar covered under 7800, 7801, 7802, or 7805 may also receive a separate rating under 7804 when it is painful or unstable, and the rules tell raters to separately evaluate effects like pain, instability, or muscle and nerve damage and then combine them under 38 CFR 4.25. This means a single injury can lead to more than one related evaluation when the rules allow.
There is no special "presumptive" or toxic-exposure pathway (such as Agent Orange, burn pits, Camp Lejeune, or the PACT Act) written specifically for scars, because scars are generally connected directly to the wound, burn, or surgery that caused them rather than to an exposure. However, if a scar is left behind by treatment for a presumptive condition — for example, surgery for a cancer linked to a recognized exposure — the underlying condition's presumptive pathway can remove the burden of proving the link, and the scar would then be a residual of that service-connected condition. This is educational information only; it is not legal advice or a VA decision, and a denial can be a starting point rather than the end of the road.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 28,414 real Board appeals for Scars
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 historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Scars was linked to service:
In appeals where Scars was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Veteran's migraine headaches are rated at 50% and cannot be increased.,SMC at the housebound rate is granted from January 11, 2021 due to multiple service-connected disabilities.,A TDIU rating effective October 28, 2011 is granted based on inability to secure or follow substantially gainful employment due to migraine headaches.,Eligibility for DEA benefits is granted but no earlier than the date of claim (April 5, 1999).
The Veteran's left shoulder strain, including a labral tear status post-surgery, is granted as service-connected.,The Veteran's bilateral corneal scars are granted as service-connected. The restoration of the 60% disability rating for dermatitis is also granted.
The Board has granted service connection for intestinal cancer, liver cancer, and a liver biopsy surgical scar as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected intestinal cancer.
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is granted service connection, but his left ear hearing loss and both ankle conditions are denied. The Veteran's right ankle scar tissue damage is granted a non-compensable rating, while the painful scars receive a 10 percent rating.
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities, which include stressor related disorder, prostate cancer residuals, surgical scar, and erectile dysfunction. The combined disability rating is at least 80 percent.
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
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New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Scars often look at outcomes for these too:
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