VA Disability For Migraines

Those who suffer from migraine headaches know just how debilitating they can be. Even worse, migraine headaches can be unpredictable, making it hard to know just when and how long they will disrupt your day-to-day and workplace activities.

The causes of migraine headaches are multi-faceted and have been linked to a variety of environmental, psychological, and physical factors. Unfortunately, Veterans are at an increased risk of suffering from migraine headaches. As the VA reports, studies have demonstrated that up to 36 percent of Veterans who completed a 12-month deployment in Iraq were later diagnosed with or showed symptoms of migraines. By comparison, only 12% of people in general exhibit migraine symptoms.

With a documented increase in this condition for Veterans, it seems clear that VA disability should apply to migraine headaches. It may be frustrating, then, to find out that your claim for VA disability benefits has been denied.

If you made a claim for veteran disability based on symptoms of migraines and received a denial, you likely have questions about this decision and what to do next. Some injuries and conditions are obviously service-related, and the act of filing a claim for these is much more straightforward. Migraine headaches, however, are not as simple.

In order to receive a VA disability rating for migraines, you must prove that your symptoms are part of a diagnosed condition and that the condition is service-related. Doing so can require some extra steps in the diagnosis stage.

First, it’s useful to understand how the VA rates migraine headaches. A migraine headache diagnosis has a maximum VA rating of 50%, which means that a veteran suffering from migraines may be eligible for up to 50% disability benefits because of the condition. This is not an automatic rating, however, and there are multiple stages of migraine headaches under consideration:

• 0% Disability Rating– Someone who has only occasional migraines or symptoms that do not include prostrating attacks may only be eligible for a noncompensable, or 0% disability rating.
• 10% Disability Rating– If a veteran suffers from migraines with prostrating attacks that occur on average every 2 months over a period of several months, a 10% disability rating is likely appropriate.
• 30% Disability Rating– If a veteran suffers from migraines with prostrating attacks that occur on average once a month over a period of several months, a 30% disability rating is likely appropriate.
• 50% Disability Rating– The maximum VA disability rating for migraine headaches requires very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability. You are probably left wondering what this convoluted language means, and you’re not alone. This language is broken down more below.

Factors That Determine a Migraine Disability Rating

The disability rating for migraine headaches contains language that is not clearly defined. These terms have been extensively litigated at the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and much of this litigation is still ongoing. The current understanding of the meaning of these terms falls into three categories:

• Necessity of Prostration– “Prostration” generally refers to being in a fully reclined position. VA generally accepts the definition for prostrating headaches as those migraines which require you to lie down in a dark room for the duration of the prostrating attack. There is no requirement that the prostrating attack lasts for any specific amount of time, but if the attack is severe enough to require you to lie down in order to manage the symptoms, then VA is likely to concede that your migraine headaches are prostrating.
• Prolonged Period of Symptoms– Another aspect that is taken into consideration while making the most severe disability rating is the prolonged nature of the individual migraine attack period. There is no specific amount of time defined by the VA, so there is some subjectivity in this regard. We recommend keeping a headache journal to document the onset of prostrating attacks and how long it takes to recover. This documentation can be very helpful in proving that your migraines are “prolonged” to qualify for the highest disability rating.
• Severe Economic Inadaptability- The final condition that is required to receive the highest disability rating has to do with the impact on your ability to work and earn financial compensation. The definition of this phrase is still being litigated in the Courts, but if your migraines happen with enough frequency and severity to make you absent from work more than one day per month, you may meet the criteria to demonstrate that your prostrating migraine headaches cause severe economic inadaptability.