What is Sciatica and How Does It Affect Veterans?

With painful and physically restrictive symptoms, service-connected sciatica can put veterans at risk for chronic health issues, reduce their quality of life, and lead them to self-isolate.

Summary

• Sciatica symptoms are often secondary to service-related injuries like herniated discs. The VA offers a disability rating for sciatica, accounting for pain, loss of function, and loss of sensation.
• Sciatica typically affects one side of the body and can cause weakness, numbness, tingling, pain, and incontinence. In severe cases, sciatica can result in a limited range of motion and loss of function, potentially leading to muscle atrophy.
• The condition can cause chronic pain, limited mobility, and incontinence, significantly affecting veterans’ quality of life, ability to work, and mental health.
• The VA assigns sciatica ratings based on paralysis, neuritis, or neuralgia. Severe cases may also qualify for Special Monthly Compensation.

Sciatica is often a symptom of another medical problem or a secondary condition, so it is common for veterans with this health issue to be concerned about whether sciatica is a disability according to the VA.

Veterans can qualify for compensation with a sciatica VA rating for symptoms that range from mild to severe. As a VA-accredited firm with an exceptional service record, our team at VetLaw has ample experience helping vets cope with the various costs of service-related sciatica.

When an acute injury or long-term overuse compromises the sciatic nerve, vets often suffer mentally and physically. VetLaw proudly provides comprehensive legal services to these veterans. Get in touch with our team at (855) 573-1503 or submit a contact form to schedule a free consultation.

In this personalized session, one of our skilled veterans disability appeals lawyers can offer you an expert perspective on how to successfully pursue VA disability compensation for your service-connected sciatica. 

Common Signs of Service-Connected Sciatica in Veterans

The sciatic nerve serves two major roles. Not only does it provide function to the knees and lower legs, but it also allows veterans to experience sensation along the backs of their thighs, large portions of the lower legs, and soles.

Injuries commonly associated with military service, such as herniated disks, trauma to the hip, or spinal stenosis, can compress the sciatic nerve. Consequently, the myelin sheath that protects the sciatic nerve may be unable to prevent the underlying axon from becoming damaged or inflamed.

Sciatica refers to the physical symptoms that follow. Veterans can seek benefits in the form of a VA sciatica disability claim if their condition is service-connected.

Typically, sciatica symptoms are confined to one side of the body, although a veteran can experience multiple symptoms simultaneously in different parts of their legs and feet. Veterans with sciatica VA ratings may experience symptoms like:

• Weakness or numbness
• Tingling sensation
• Pain (sharp or dull)
• Urinary or fecal incontinence 

With complete sciatic nerve paralysis, a veteran may also exhibit a reduced range of motion in the affected knee and a loss of function in their foot. Serious cases of sciatica involving loss of function can lead to muscle atrophy.

For sciatica disability ratings, the VA says that pain is disabling on its own, but it also compensates vets for impaired function and loss of sensation. 

The Physical and Mental Toll of Sciatica for Veterans

The three main physical costs of service-related sciatica are pain, limited mobility, and incontinence. For many, coping with the physical symptoms of sciatica can also be mentally and emotionally taxing. To avoid exacerbating their sciatica symptoms, veterans may feel like they have to become bystanders in their own lives. 

How Physical Sciatica Symptoms Affect a Veteran’s Health and Quality of Life

For instance, chronic pain is often a feature of sciatica, as with other nerve conditions. Sciatic nerve pain can interfere with a veteran’s ability to focus at work or home, remain patient with others, and simply enjoy everyday life.

Back pain, along with numbness or muscle weakness can also diminish a vet’s balance, coordination, and ability to support their own weight. With limited mobility due to sciatica, veterans may be unable to fully engage in activities that require them to bend over, climb, carry or lift any real weight, and walk or stand for extended periods of time. 

This can make it difficult to do things like work a retail, service, or manual labor job, pick up a child, do laundry or yard work, stay physically active with exercise, or participate in recreational activities.

Not only does a sedentary lifestyle increase a veteran’s risk of developing conditions like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, but it can also lead to social isolation and depressive mood. Over time, these conditions can have a negative impact on a veteran’s mental health.

Additionally, vets with sciatica-related lack of bladder or bowel control are often motivated to avoid situations due to fear of a public episode, which can limit their opportunities to work or socialize. In terms of their physical health, chronic incontinence carries an elevated risk of Urinary Tract Infections and skin irritation. 

Look to the Veterans Disability Benefits Lawyers of VetLaw for Help With Your Sciatica VA Rating

The costs of service-connected sciatica can have a significant impact on a veteran’s daily life, financial security, and physical health. Our veterans disability appeals lawyers will relentlessly pursue fair compensation for your sciatica VA rating to help make these effects more manageable. 

As seasoned VA-accredited attorneys, we are equipped to handle the challenges of the veterans disability appeals process and secure a solid outcome. Don’t delay your appeal for VA disability benefits for service-related sciatica; involve VetLaw’s veterans disability claims attorneys as soon as possible. 

You can reach us at (855) 573-1503 or submit a contact form to schedule a free consultation with a capable advocate. Our experienced team will provide an overview of the VA appeal process, assess the strength of your claim, and form a plan to secure the compensation you deserve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I qualify for Special Monthly Compensation if I have a sciatica VA rating?

The VA awards Special Monthly Compensation to veterans with specific service-related disabilities, including the loss of function in a foot or knee, which can happen with severe sciatica.

However, you would likely need to demonstrate that you have an additional service-related condition that fulfills one of the combinations the VA recognizes as SMC-eligible.

How does the VA assign a veteran a sciatica rating?

Sciatica VA ratings depend on the type of impairment a veteran experiences, as well as the extent of their symptoms. First, the VA decides which of the three possible rating schedules for sciatica applies to your case. 

The VA rates sciatica based on either paralysis of the nerve resulting in loss of function, neuritis that diminishes reflexes, sensation, and reflexes, or neuralgia causing pain and numbness. Then, the VA compares the diagnostic criteria for that rating schedule to your symptoms and assigns the appropriate rating.

How do I prove a service connection for a veterans disability claim for sciatica?

For a standard VA disability claim, you would need to provide evidence that you experienced either a specific in-service incident, such as a fall, or conditions, like repeated heavy lifting, and that it was responsible for causing your sciatica. 

Use your service record, as well as statements from fellow service members, to verify that you experienced the in-service event or conditions. To demonstrate a medical nexus, you can submit a letter from a healthcare professional explicitly outlining the connection, as well as your medical records from private and VA providers.

For secondary condition claims, you need to establish that one of your service-connected disabilities caused you to develop sciatica. The VA will want medical evidence linking the conditions. This could include medical imaging, statements from providers, and other documentation.

If your sciatica is a pre-existing condition being on active duty aggravated it, you’ll need medical documentation of a pre-service diagnosis. You also have to show that an in-service event or working conditions exacerbated your sciatica and offer medical proof your sciatica worsened beyond the expected natural progression due to military service.