Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2014

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current tinnitus, low back disability, and numbness of the bilateral legs are related to his active military service.

The Veteran's sleep apnea, hypertension, and tinnitus are all found to have begun during his military service. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran is granted service connection for hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus as these conditions are related to his military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The evidence did not establish a nexus between these conditions and service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to the RO for additional development, including obtaining VA and private medical records, providing the Veteran with another opportunity to present information and/or evidence pertinent to his TDIU claim, and obtaining a medical opinion regarding the impact of his service-connected disabilities on his employability during the period from March 30, 2009 to February 24, 2011.

The Board has determined that the VA audiological examination in June 2010 is inadequate and ordered a new examination to determine if tinnitus is related to service. The Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus will be remanded for further development.

The Veteran's tinnitus was found to have manifested during military service and the Board granted his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA audiological examination to determine the nature and etiology of his bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus.

The Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus were not found to be related to service, resulting in denial of these claims.,For the wrist disability, a rating greater than 10 percent was denied as there is no evidence of ankylosis.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a new examination to determine the relationship between his vertigo and residuals of a perforated right eardrum. The case will be reviewed again after this development.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no current disability and insufficient evidence linking these conditions to service.

The Board has requested a remand due to the need for additional development and examination, particularly regarding the Veteran's claimed exposure to noise from aircraft service and herbicides as a result of his duties flying KC-135 tankers.

The Board found that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus were not caused by hazardous noise exposure in service.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are found to be service-connected, with the back disability issue being remanded for further examination.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of hyperlipidemia, lung disability, cyst on the back, left hip disability, and lumbar spine disability. The claim for tinnitus was granted.

The Veteran's bilateral tinnitus was found to have begun during active service and is related to an incident of service, thus granting service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's tinnitus is related to her active service and has granted service connection for this condition. The issue of a left ankle disorder, including lymphedema, remains pending as additional development is needed.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's tinnitus had its onset in service and granted service connection for this condition. The claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss is addressed in the REMAND portion of the decision.

The VA examiner found that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus are unrelated to noise exposure in service. The Board finds this inadequate due to a mischaracterization of an audiogram as being from separation examination, lack of postservice occupational noise exposure history, and vague reasoning. Further development is needed.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's current diagnoses of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his in-service noise exposure, and thus service connection is granted.