Wrist & hand decisions — 2026

The Board has found that the Veteran's lower lumbar pain, left eye retinal scarring and loss of vision, right ankle bone spurs, left ankle bone spurs, and left wrist surgery are not adequately addressed due to a lack of VA medical examinations. The Board is therefore remanding these issues for further action.

The Board has granted service connection for lumbosacral strain with intervertebral disc syndrome, but denied service connection for anxiety disorder and right wrist injury.

The Veteran's claims for left shoulder dislocation, migraine headaches, left wrist ankylosis, insomnia, and bilateral hearing loss have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions at any time during the appeal period.,The Veteran's claim for lumbosacral strain has been remanded due to inadequate medical opinion.

The Board dismissed the claim for an increased evaluation of the right wrist disability. The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is granted a 70% initial evaluation, but no higher.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for migraines was granted with an effective date of June 9, 2021. A 100% rating for PTSD is granted from January 8, 2021 to July 11, 2023. Effective date of January 8, 2021 for DEA benefits and a new effective date for SMC is also granted.

The Board denied service connection for left ankle, right ankle, and right wrist disabilities. The claim for an increased rating for a right knee disability was also denied.

The Veteran passed away before the Board could make a decision on her service connection claims for rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. Her appeal is dismissed due to her death.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the issues of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (to include insomnia), bilateral plantar fasciitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome (left).

The Board has granted service connection for low back pain and right thumb condition, but denied service connection for neck condition, right shoulder condition, right wrist condition, right knee condition, and right shin condition.

The Board denied service connection for recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome and upper extremity neurological disabilities, as well as knee disabilities, all claimed as the result of herbicide agent exposure. The diagnoses were not shown to have originated during active service or due to herbicide agent exposure.

The Veteran's left ear hearing loss, thoracic spine disorder (low back disability), and left shoulder injury are all granted as service-connected. However, the Veteran's left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome is denied.

The Board has remanded the appellant's claims for service connection and increased ratings due to insufficient evidence or further clarification of his symptoms. The hypertension claim is denied as there are no diastolic pressures predominantly 120 or more, while the left wrist sprain claim remains at a 10 percent rating despite worsening symptoms.

The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection of left and right carpal tunnel syndrome due to a failure to obtain medical opinions based on the evidence already of record after the Veteran did not attend an examination. The Board finds that VA's internal notations indicate a full, in-person examination was not necessarily required.

The Veteran's back disability is granted a 20 percent rating, but no higher. The claims for increased ratings of left and right wrist conditions, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, left foot condition, right foot condition, and headache condition are denied.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for facial scarring, left and right foot disabilities, left and right ankle disabilities, left knee, left hip, and left shoulder disabilities, as well as left and right wrist disabilities. The Veteran does not have a current hearing loss disability.

Service connection is granted for left and right hand tremors. Service connection is denied for a left wrist disability, jaw disability, left and right hand strain, right wrist disability, and lumbar spine disability.

The Board denied service connection for neck pain, right wrist pain, and upper and lower back pain due to lack of a current disability or causal relationship.,The Veteran's claims were based on in-service activities such as writing, using a computer, and physical training.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection were denied as the earliest available effective date is August 2, 2023.,Claims for increased ratings and TDIU were also addressed but are not relevant to this decision.

The Veteran's combined rating for service-connected disabilities was 100% as of November 1, 2016. The effective date for DEA benefits is granted on this basis.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral foot disability and migraine headaches do not meet the criteria for a TDIU prior to October 14, 2021.