VA Claims: Prepare for Battle (1-6 Months Out)

Okay…the title “Prepare for Battle” may be a poor choice of words that could insinuate I’m advocating for lying or exaggerations, which by now I’ve hopefully made it abundantly clear that I’m not; and I’m not done saying it either.?From here on out, I’m going to be discussing a lot of things that someone looking to abuse the process and system can gain from.?So please perform an integrity gut check before continuing to read on.?From this point on, I am warily and cautiously providing you with guidance trusting that you are a Veteran of principle and strong moral character, just as I’m sure you were/are in uniform.

This title may also suggest that the VA physician is your enemy, and they are not.?This title is just meant to be catchy and in jest, and while you won’t be lying or exaggerating, there are preparations you need to make for your appointments.?You need to know what you’re walking into, and there are preparations necessary to ensure an accurate evaluation.?So, let’s begin…

Educate Yourself

If you followed my guidance earlier in Part 4, you may have already looked at the site that lists all of the types of ailments that the VA accepts as claims, and more so, what/how the VA measures for those ailments in their determinations.?If you haven’t, there’s no more avoiding it.?You need to go to this website and look up all of the ailments that you filed claims for.?Now, this website is not an easy read.?It’s in a lot of “doctor speak.”?However, if you read everything carefully, you can make out what they’re saying.?I cannot stress enough that you need to read everything carefully.?You may be surprised by what the VA measures to evaluate your condition.?

For instance, you might think like I did, that flat foot syndrome (A.K.A. Pes Planus) is measured by the arch – or lack thereof – of the foot.?Well, when you read their explanation of flatfoot, you see it says, “depression of the longitudinal arch, or the degree of depression, is not the essential feature.”?Yup, you read that right; they do not measure the arch in your foot.?If you keep reading, you’ll see it says, “attention should be given to anatomical changes, as compared to normal, in the relationship of the foot and leg, particularly to the inward rotation of the superior portion of the os calcis, medial deviation of the insertion of the Achilles tendon, the medial tilting of the upper border of the astragalus.”?Now that is confusing, right?!?The keyword in all of that is, “relationship of the foot and leg, particularly to the inward rotation.”?In other words, they’re looking at the angle that their leg goes into your foot, not the arch!?Who would’ve thought?!

I cannot stress enough that you need to read everything on the VA’s disability rating website very carefully.?You may be surprised by what the VA measures to evaluate your condition.

So, as I’ve just illustrated, the VA isn’t always evaluating your conditions in the way you would think.?You need to make sure that you know what they’re looking at/for when they evaluate.?Now, just a year or two ago, the eCFR had way more diagrams to show what sort of angles and measurements the VA looks at during evaluations.?However, at the time that this article was written, they have considerably revamped the site, and in doing so, removed many of those diagrams.?So, I’m going to very warily and cautiously inform you that you can still find these diagrams.?For instance, if you google search “VA Disability measurement for pes planus,” you’re going to find sites that provide you with these diagrams.?

I say this with some reservation, however, because nearly all of those websites are also what I would consider questionable in their design and maybe even advocating for people to misrepresent the severity of their condition.?So, it bears repeating one more time:?Please display honor and integrity when doing your research.?I 100% condone and even encourage educating yourself, but I implore you to not abuse your knowledge in an attempt to “game” the system.?If anything, the VA will catch you in a lie, which will only hurt your chances, and you’ll be left trying to file appeals on the back end because you got caught “cheating” and didn’t get a fair assessment.?Just be honest upfront, and you run the best chance to get an accurate assessment and rating.

Measure Yourself

Okay, I’ve hopefully beaten that horse to near death, and you’ve thoroughly smelled in what I’m stepping in.?So, once you have educated yourself on how the VA views your ailment, and how the assess/measure it, it’s time to start measuring your ailments just as the VA will.?Why do you want to measure yourself??Well, let me explain.

On the day of your evaluation by the VA, you may be having a great day.?Those knees are actually feeling pretty good, that shoulder is pretty loose, and that arthritic back or compressed disc isn’t quite as debilitating as usual.?After all, not every day is a bad day for all of your ailments.?You need to measure yourself ahead of time, however, because the physician needs to see what your worst day looks like.?Do I need to insert another discouraging remark about lying or exaggerating here??I hope not, because I’m even getting tired of typing it.?However, that physician needs to know what your conditions are like on those days when they’re at their worst.

For instance, let’s hypothetically say that you have labral tears in both shoulders, maybe have already had surgery on your left shoulder, and your right shoulder is actually being documented as worse than your left.?In short, your shoulders are shot, most days they bother you, and some days they really bug you.?Armed with the knowledge that the VA is going to measure the range of mobility in your shoulder without pain, you need to begin measuring that very same thing on those really bad days.?Measure how limited your range of motion is for each shoulder and make a mental note of it.?What angle is it at when pain sets in??Lock that angle in your mind.?View it in the mirror for more reference.?Be able to know where that angle is when pain sets in.?

You’re doing this because the day you go in for evaluation, your significantly worse right shoulder might actually be feeling okay that day, but you need that physician to know what your bad days look like.?You’ve done your homework, so when the doc is evaluating that part of your body, and they go to lift your arm, you need to display the same level of pain that you feel at the angle that you measured on your bad days.?Maybe that’s a wince??Maybe that’s a groan??I don’t know.?It’s whatever a bad day looks like for you, and I can’t speak to that.

The doctor needs to see you on your worst day. You educate and measure yourself to be able to properly demonstrate just that.

I’m going to scream it one more time from the rooftop: This is a slippery slope, folks.?You need to be honest.?I know I’ve said this a million times but let me caution you as to the why one more time:?The physician is already going to know how severe your condition is.?It’s documented.?They have your X-rays, your MRIs, all of the documentation from your medical files.?They’re going to have a solid idea of how bad your condition really is.?If you go in there, and suddenly you’re demonstrating that your condition has gotten 20 times worse in the course of a few months since it was last recorded, they are going to know, and your claim is going to be an uphill battle from here on out.?Just be honest, folks.

That’s it for this week! I know that last week I said that we’d be diving into the actual screening, but this article already got away from me a little bit, and after a 7-minute read, I figured it was necessary to break this up into a slightly smaller chunk so that it wasn’t a 12-minute read. I promise that next week we will dive headlong into the actual VA screening, and I’ll reveal why you want to type out everything in your VA screening packet that you received in the mail.

In the meantime, hopefully, you found some useful information here, and if you enjoyed it, please like, share, and comment. Be well until next week, and just remember, you’re not in this alone!