The Veteran's lumbar strain has not been found to meet or approximate the criteria for a higher disability rating, and thus her initial rating of 10 percent is denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s lumbar strain does not result in forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine less than 60 degrees, combined range of motion of the thoracolumbar spine less than 120 degrees, or muscle spasm resulting in abnormal gait or spinal contour.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120974
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19120974.
What this means for you
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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.
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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.
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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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