The Veteran's cervical neck strain is currently rated at 20 percent, effective May 2021.,The Veteran's thoracolumbar strain was granted a 20 percent rating from January 4, 2021, to September 30, 2020.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran's cervical spine had forward flexion limited to 35 degrees, which is within the range for a 20 percent rating.,For the thoracolumbar strain, the VA examiner noted that the Veteran's forward flexion was at 45 degrees during flare-ups, meeting the criteria for a 20 percent rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical Neck Strain, Thoracolumbar Strain, Bilateral Plantar Fasciitis, Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (PTSD), Migraines, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with cognitive symptoms
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- November 12, 2024
- Citation
- A24073614
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 A24073614.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial evaluation for tension headaches to include migraines is granted, with a rating of 50 percent effective from May 23, 2023.
- Denied
The claims for PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disorder, memory loss/memory problems, chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties/sleep disturbances, and sleep apnea have been denied. The claim for service connection for residuals of testicular denervation and varicosectomy has been granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for tension and migraine headaches is remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2020 VA examination report, which did not consider the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for his migraine headaches was denied as the evidence did not show that his migraines were productive of severe economic inadaptability.
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