VA Disability For Back Arthritis

Back injuries are an incredibly prevalent — and incredibly disruptive — type of disability. If you have a service-related back injury, you could be eligible for VA disability benefits for back arthritis (typically referred to by VA as a lumbar spine disorder). Understanding how eligibility and benefits are determined is an important part of understanding your options as you seek payment that will help you maintain your life while dealing with the disruption of back arthritis.

Read on to learn more about this particular kind of injury and how the VA handles disability claims and appeals for back arthritis.

As a general term, arthritis is used to refer to pain in the joints. As Johns Hopkins explains, “there are more than 100 different types of arthritis, and most of them may affect the back or neck.” While this pain can be experienced anywhere along the length of the spine, it is most common in the lower back and the neck. The most common forms of back arthritis include the following:

• Osteoarthritis– The most common form of arthritis in the back is osteoarthritis, which is a noninflammatory (or degenerative) form. Often, arthritis is attributed to wear and tear on the cartilage between the joints. This means that it can take time for arthritis symptoms to appear. Because of this connection, degenerative disc disease can also be a contributing factor to back arthritis.
• Rheumatoid arthritis– Also known as inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system turns on itself and attacks the lining of the joints. Rather than being attributed to wear and tear, rheumatoid arthritis is caused by an autoimmune disorder.
• Spondyloarthritis– This term refers to a collection of inflammatory diseases that impact the joints and spaces where ligaments and tendons attach to bones. It is also an inflammatory form of the disease.

Regardless of the cause, back arthritis shares several symptoms across different types:

• Back pain
• Stiffness/loss of flexibility
• Tenderness and swelling
• Headaches
• Whole-body fatigue

As with any service-related injury, the VA has a formula for determining if benefits will be awarded and in what amount. The VA assigns each applicant a disability rating based on the severity of the service-related condition. These ratings will be based on evidence from medical professionals, a VA claim exam, and information collected from other sources including federal agencies. If an individual has more than one service-related injury, the ratings can be combined to determine an overall rating for assigning benefits on a combined ratings scale.

In addition, the VA accounts for “aggravating” factors of a service-related incident. This means that if an individual had an existing condition before entering into service that would have been rated a 10% disability but the act of service aggravated the condition to increase it to a 20% disability, the VA would determine it to be a 10% disability for their rating system.

Back arthritis can certainly be a service-related injury that qualifies for VA disability benefits. The VA will assign a rating based on the severity of the condition. In general, the flexion (determined by range of motion (ROM) measurements) of the affected area (lumbar spine for lower back) and the x-ray evidence showing the number of impacted joints will determine the rating.