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hi welcome to cck under five in this video we're discussing the VA disability ratings given for
peral neuropathy peripheral neuropathy is best understood as nerve damage in the extremities
peripheral nerves are out inside the brain and spinal cord and they are responsible for
relaying information between the brain and the rest of the body peripheral neuropathy occurs
when the peripheral nerves are damaged this can cause burning tingling or a stabbing sensation
in the hands and feet as well as numbness and weakens weakness so how can veterans become
service connected for pral neuropathy there are three ways that you might be able to get service
connected for peral neuropathy you can get service connected on a direct basis on a second AR basis
or through presumptive service connection so I'll just go over how those three ways work
um really briefly so when applying on a direct basis um that a veteran needs to establish that
their peripheral neuropathy is directly related to service they do that by providing um one a
current diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy two evidence of an inservice event or injury that
caused the peral neuropathy and then lastly a medical Nexxus that links those two things
together secondary service connection is also available if a veteran is service connected for
a primary disability that causes the peripheral neuropathy so most common condition I think that
causes peripheral neuropathy is diabetes so if a veteran is service connected for diabetes and
they develop peral neuropathy secondary to diabetes then they can get service connected
for the periphal neuropathy by a providing their diagnosis of periphal neuropathy to the
VA uh and B by providing medical evidence that the peripheral neuropathy is linked
to the diabetes then the last way to get service connected for peral neuropathy uh
is presumptive service connection so veterans are only eligible for presumptive service connection
for per for peripheral neuropathy uh if they have herbicide exposure so if VA has conceded
herbicide exposure um then presumptive service connection is a possibility for Pur neuropathy
uh but there's one more element that you need to show for peral neuropathy so unfortunately
for peral neuropathy to be service connected on a presumptive basis it needs to have manifested
um within one year of service uh at a severity warranting at least a 10% rating um on the va's
rating criteria um so only early onset peral neuropathy qualifies for presumptive service
connection okay and then lastly I'll go over how VA rates periphal neuropathy um so VA doesn't have
a specific diagnostic code used to rate periphal neuropathy um it bases it uh it rates it based on
the nerves that are involved so it'll also rate peral neuropathy depending on whether it's upper
or lower extremity peral neuropathy uh depending on on which uh diagnosis a veteran has so some
of diagnostic codes that can be used to rate peral neuropathy include um diagnostic code
8250 which is for paralysis of the sciatic nerve diagnostic code 8620 which is for neuritis uh as
well as diagnostic code 8720 for neuralgia and then diagnostic code 8530 for paralysis of the
ilioinguinal nerve and diagnostic code 8630 for neuritis as well as 8730 for neuralgia so
which diagnostic code VA is going to rate um a specific case of periphal neuropathy is going to
depend on the specific nerves impacted and then once service connected is award awarded and VA
determines which diagnostic code they're going to use um typically a veteran will receive a rating
ranging from 0 to 40% um based on the severity and that will often be based on each extremity
that's impacted okay so that's all I have today um thank you for tuning in um for more information
on ba disability benefits and rating criteria uh as well as more information on herbicide
exposure and the packed act um please check out our other videos and subscribe thank [Music]
you
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