Yes, Veterans Can Get a VA Disability Rating for Migraines!
Actually, the headaches VA rating is the same as the migraine VA rating!Yes, veterans can get a VA disability rating for migraines! If you’re a veteran who suffers from migraines, you may be wondering if you can get service connected and receive a VA disability rating. The quick answer is: yes you can get it service connected given the appropriate “Theory of Service Connection”. There are different ways to approach claiming a VA disability rating and receiving VA disability benefits for migraine headaches. Let’s take a look at how you can go about doing so.
How to Prove a VA Disability Rating for Migraines?
Before you can even think about submitting a VA disability claim and receiving a VA disability rating for migraine headaches, you must first establish a proper diagnosis for your headaches; this is the first step in all VA claims. There are generally three different types of migraine headaches. These are:
- migraine with aura,
- migraine without aura,
- and a headache (these may all be secondary to another condition).
With this in mind, you will need to see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis if you suspect that you have any of the above conditions. An important thing to remember is to understand when, how, what where and understand why you now have the migraine headaches. For example, if you recently started taking medication for a service-connected disability, this would qualify as a potential secondary condition.
Key Takeaways
The rating criteria for Code 8100 – Migraines:
- With very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability …..50%
- With characteristic prostrating attacks occurring on an average once a month over last several months …..30%
- With characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over last several months ……10%
- With less frequent attacks ….10%
Establish the Diagnosis
If you’ve been diagnosed with migraine headaches, you should next establish that this is a constant and chronic condition. A chronic condition is defined as something that lasts for at least three months. The only way to establish the chronicity is for a doctor to establish it as chronic. The best way to get the diagnosis overall is to seek treatment from your primary care physician or a neurologist for your migraines. After receiving the migraine headache diagnosis, you are ready to continue with the next steps.
Prove Your Migraines Are Constant and Chronic
This is one of the most important aspects of proving that you deserve a rating for migraine headaches. You must prove that your migraine headaches are a constant and chronic condition. You can prove this by keeping a log of your headaches or migraines. This means that you should log your migraine headache for a few months prior to submitting a VA Claim. A great app to do this is Migraine Buddy. You can also keep track of all the treatments you’re using to alleviate your migraine symptoms such as doctor prescribed medication or normal aspirin or ibuprofen. Keep in mind that your diary should be detailed, and must include dates. You can also use the app for this purpose.
Frequency and severity of headaches is important to outline. Mild, moderate, and severe headaches should be logged accordingly.
Show That Your Headaches or Migraines Affect Your Daily Life
You should show that your migraine headaches affect your abilities to work and lead a normal life. This means that your migraine headaches are not just a condition, but also a disability. To show this, you must be able to provide your medical records and medical evidence that your migraine headaches are adversely affecting your daily life.
You can do this by logging your daily activities and seeing how your migraines affect them. You should also pay attention to how your migraines affect your mood and daily interactions with others. All of this should be logged in your Statement in Support of Claim (VA Form 21-4138). Based on the frequency and severity of your headaches, the rating criteria will be between 0% & 50%.
It is a good idea to also speak about the impact your migraines have on your job so that you can prove severe economic inadaptability, if it exists.
What Is the Rating Criteria for Migraine Headaches?
The rating criteria for migraines has four different disability ratings, 0%, 10%, 30% and 50%. The VA has a rating schedule, which can be used to determine the percentage of disability you will receive due to your migraine headaches. The rating schedule is defined under Diagnostic Code 8100 38 CFR § 4.124a – Schedule of ratings – neurological conditions and convulsive disorders and shows how the VA rates migraine headaches.
- With very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability …..50%
- With characteristic prostrating attacks occurring on an average once a month over last several months …..30%
- With characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over last several months ……10%
- With less frequent attacks ….0%
We also recommend that you understand the Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ). It is specifically under DBQ Headaches (Including Migraine Headaches), also known as DBQ neuro headaches. The DBQ is important to review before or during writing your lay statement. Without reading the DBQ, you will not understand what the difference is between the 30 & 50% rating (specifically, severe economic inadaptability), if it exists.This is so you can write your symptoms and preserve a potential argument if required. Make sure you do all of this to make a successful claim.
What does prostrating mean?
Bottom line, you need to be able to prove the number of attacks you have. The easiest and best way to do this is to use the ways that we outlined in the “Prove That It is Constant and Chronic” section above. Prostrating is not a well defined term in the books of the Code of Federal Regulations and the VA in general, but if we were to take it directly out of the Oxford English Dictionary:
pros·trate
/ˈprästrāt/
adjective – lying stretched out on the ground with one’s face downward.
Based on the definition, it can be reasonably assumed that this definition basically says you are taken “out of action” or have to lie down, or even stop operating.
You can download a copy of the VA DBQ form for migraines from our Disability Benefits Questionnaire page.
Having a couple of prostrating headaches each month can cause severe economic inadaptability, and this must be proved.
Conclusion
Veterans who suffer from migraine headaches may think that this does not affect their chances of receiving VA benefits for migraines. However, this does not mean that you cannot get a rating for your migraine headaches claim. In fact, there are different ways to approach claiming a VA disability rating for migraine headaches. You can prove that your condition is expected to last for the rest of your life or that it is a constant and chronic condition. If you can prove these, you will qualify for a VA disability rating for migraine headaches.
You can read this article to learn how to write an effective lay statement for migraines.
If you need further guidance in submitting your VA Claim, or have general education questions, feel free to reach out to us for a free 30-minute strategy session!
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