Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2013

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military service, including exposure to noise from combat-related activities in Vietnam. Service connection is granted for both conditions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and tinnitus as residuals of a head injury in service, finding that there was no credible evidence showing an onset or continuity of these conditions during service.

The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether the Veteran's tinnitus is related to his service-connected bilateral high frequency hearing loss.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are at least as likely as not related to his in-service noise exposure.,Service connection was also granted for an acquired psychiatric disorder including adjustment disorder, but the Board found this condition is not due to disease or injury incurred during active service.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection claims and the claim for TDIU due to service-connected disability. The appeals are dismissed.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of his PTSD and whether he is unemployable due to service-connected disabilities. The case will be returned to the Board after completion of this development.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the unavailability of his service personnel records, which may affect the determination of noise exposure. The case will be returned to the VA examiner for a new opinion regarding the relationship between any current hearing loss and tinnitus and military noise exposure.

The Veteran's tinnitus is not related to his active service.,The Veteran did not sustain a foot disorder during service, and any current foot disorder is not related to service.,The Veteran does not have an undiagnosed illness manifested by tingling in the extremities that has manifested to a degree of 10 percent or more for any period since service.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, thus the claims are dismissed.

The Veteran's claimed disabilities of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not incurred in or aggravated by active service. The evidence does not show that the current conditions are related to his military service.

The Board found that the evidence does not support a finding that the Appellant's bilateral tinnitus is related to his verified period of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) or any incident of such service, including in-service noise exposure. As a result, the claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus was denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient development of the medical record, particularly for tinnitus. The Veteran's left and right knee disorders are also on appeal.

The Veteran does not have a current hearing loss disability for VA purposes and his tinnitus is not related to service.