Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) Board decisions

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to incomplete verification of his periods of active duty, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA during his service in the Air Force Reserves. Additional VA medical opinions are needed to determine if the current diagnoses of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military service.

The Veteran's skin disability is not service connected, but his tinnitus is presumed to have been incurred in service due to exposure to noise.

The Veteran's tinnitus, hearing loss, and bilateral upper extremity sensory polyneuropathy are all found to be related to service. The claims for these conditions have been granted.

The Board has granted service connection for PTSD based on verified in-service combat experiences. The claims for skin disorder, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and other conditions are also granted as new and material evidence has been received.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding it was incurred during active duty. Service connection for a bilateral eye condition is denied as the Veteran's pre-existing condition did not worsen in service.

The September 2008 and May 2010 rating decisions denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and gout respectively. The Veteran's claims have been reopened but not substantiated.,New evidence submitted in May 2011 includes a VA examination report indicating that the Veteran developed bilateral plantar fasciitis from military service. This new evidence relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his active service, including exposure to noise during his military duties.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining private treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus.

The Veteran's current tinnitus manifested in service, has continued since service, and is etiologically related to service. The Board finds that the criteria for service connection for tinnitus have been met.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus do not render him unemployable, as he has been able to work in positions where he could use his hearing aids. The Board finds that the preponderance of evidence is against a finding that these disabilities prohibit the Veteran from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, lower extremity neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and tinnitus have been granted. The conditions are found to be related to his active duty service.

The Veteran's tinnitus claim was withdrawn. The Board granted service connection for left ear hearing loss and denied service connection for right ear hearing loss, residuals of an insect bite to the left groin (claimed as a knot on the leg), and acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, depression and anxiety).

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to in-service noise exposure and granted service connection for this condition. However, there is no causal link found between the Veteran's tinnitus and his military service.

The Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation based on the need for aid and attendance or housebound status has been denied as he does not require regular aid and assistance from another person due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's tinnitus and headaches are found to be due to the VA treatment he received from 1997 to 2007, specifically the medications prescribed for his hypertension. The Board finds that these outcomes were not reasonably foreseeable.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and bilateral pes planus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to his active service. Service connection was denied for hepatitis C due to lack of evidence linking it to service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination for his service-connected coronary artery disease and addendum opinions regarding his bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and erectile dysfunction claims.

The Veteran's tinnitus is found to have arisen during his active duty for training and has continued since, meeting the criteria for service connection.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and right ear hearing loss, finding that these conditions are due to the Veteran's military service. The claim of service connection for left ear hearing loss is remanded as it requires additional medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran currently meets VA criteria for a diagnosis of Meniere's disease and if so, whether this condition is related to his military service or caused by his newly service-connected tinnitus and right ear hearing loss.

The Board found that the Veteran's currently diagnosed bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his active service, as there is no evidence of chronic symptoms during or within one year after service. The VA examiner opined that the current conditions are more likely due to natural aging process, post-service noise exposure, or a combination of these factors.