Scars decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for residuals of left eye post-retinal detachment, to include left eye retinal scarring, left eye maculopathy, and left eye cataract.

The Board remands the claim for an addendum opinion to determine the approximate total area of head, face and neck with hypo- or hyperpigmented areas of the Veteran's facial scars due to pseudofolliculitis barbae and traumatic brain injury.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating or unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran is granted an earlier effective date of July 29, 2020, and no earlier, for a 60 percent evaluation of nummular dermatitis with residual scarring, left lower extremity.

The Board granted service connection for colon cancer and colon resection as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected pyrosis/gastritis.

The Board denied an initial compensable rating for status post appendectomy scars and remanded the issues of service connection for a hysterectomy due to uterine fibroids and entitlement to a 10 percent evaluation based upon multiple, noncompensable, service-connected disabilities.

The appeal for service connection for scarring was dismissed due to a procedural error.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for a compensable initial disability rating for residuals of an injury to his left 4th digit and scar tissue on the same finger, as the evidence did not support higher ratings.

The Board denied a compensable rating for anterior trunk surgical scar #1 and granted an initial noncompensable rating for anterior trunk surgical scar #2, while remanding the evaluation in excess of 10 percent for status post stomach cancer removal (residuals).

The appeal regarding the proposed reduction in the rating for residuals of adenocarcinoma of the left upper lobe with viral pneumonia from 100 percent to 10 percent is dismissed. The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his scars were denied.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for left foot pes planus and a compensable rating for the left foot scar but granted a separate 10 percent rating for left foot bunionette, status post bunionectomy.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for status post cholecystectomy, ventral hernia, painful scars from cesarean and umbilical surgery, and menorrhagia.

The Board denied the claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for residuals scars and radial nerve damage of the left upper extremity, status-post excision of squamous and basal cell carcinoma, at the Bay Pines VAMC, for substitution purposes.

The Veteran was granted service connection for a disorder manifested by fatigue as secondary to his service-connected psychiatric disorder, and an initial disability rating of 30 percent was assigned for the service-connected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with anal fissure prior to August 5, 2024. The claim for a higher rating from August 5, 2024, forward was denied.

The Board granted service connection for atrial fibrillation, residual surgical scar, mandibular bone disability, and left ear hearing loss. The claims for earlier effective dates were denied, and some claims were remanded.

The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches and denied service connection for left shoulder synovitis, cervical spine strain, anterior right upper chest scar, right shoulder acromioclavicular joint separation, and right shoulder limitation of motion.

The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for the service-connected left eye corneal scar and remanded the claim for service connection for sleep apnea.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral leg scars, as the evidence did not show that the scars more nearly approximated those required for a compensable rating.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for hemorrhoids, external; scar, left cheek status post laceration; and scar, scalp status post laceration due to a need for additional evidence and examination.

The Board granted an initial rating of 30 percent for degenerative arthritis cervical spine, status-post anterior C6-7 microdiskectomy and fusion (excluding the period of temporary total convalescence rating) effective January 28, 2020.