The Veteran's low back disability has been rated as 20 percent disabling, but the VA examiner found that his symptoms warrant a higher rating of 40 percent due to muscle spasms severe enough to result in an abnormal gait and spinal contour.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's forward flexion was limited to 80 degrees with painful motion at 70 degrees, which is equivalent to functional loss of 30 degrees or less. The examiner noted the presence of muscle spasm that resulted in abnormal spinal contour.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- November 13, 2015
- Citation
- 1548037
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1548037.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for right hand arthritis and left hand arthritis have been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating for lumbar strain, radiculopathy of the left sciatic nerve, and radiculopathy of the right sciatic nerve have been remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for lumbar strain and lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with left sciatica. The right lower extremity sciatica claim is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability, diagnosed as lumbar strain, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, is causally related to service. As such, service connection for this condition is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle sprain, right ankle sprain, anxiety with situational type phobia, left hip strain, left knee strain, right knee strain, and lumbar strain are granted effective March 3, 2022.,An earlier effective date of March 3, 2022, is assigned for the Veteran's service connection claims.
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