VA Ratings for Skin Conditions from Toe Fungus (Onychomycosis) & Foot Pain (2023)

According to research, around8in 10 Americanshave experienced some form of foot pain. If that pain is chronic, you’re more likely to feel pain in other parts of your body as well.

Are you a veteran suffering from painful feet? If so, you could be eligible to receive compensation from the VA to help you cover the costs of medical visits and treatments.

One of the most common forms of foot pain is onychomycosis, a kind oftoe fungusthat affects your toe nails. Today, we’re taking a closer look at this condition, along with the VA disability rating for foot pain. Read on to learn how to complete your claim and receive the payout you deserve.

What isOnychomycosis(Toe Fungus)?

Onychomycosis, or tinea unguium is also calledtoe fungus. It is a type of fungal infection that can affect both your toenails and your fingernails, though it most commonly occurs in your toenails.

Toenails grow slower and receive a reduced blood supply compared to your fingernails, so they are more prone to infection. In addition, your toenails are frequently shrouded in dark and moist environments, which can encouragethe growth of microorganisms.

Onychomycosis is usually caused by a group of fungi calleddermatophytes that require keratin to grow. Keratin is the type of protein found in your skin, hair and nails.

Affected Populations

It is estimated thataround 10%of the general public suffers from this condition. Of those, 20% are at least 60 years old and 50% are 70 years old or older.

Why is onychomycosis more common in older adults? Researchers explain that the condition is linked to other age-related health issues, including:

• Peripheral vascular disease
• Diabetes mellitus
• Immunologic disorders

All three of these are disabilities that carry a VA rating if you can prove a service-connection. This makes toe fungus an easy to link secondary service connection if you have any of those three disabilities.

In addition, other populations that are more susceptible to developing onychomycosis include anyone who suffers from:

• Distorted toenails
• Hyperhidrosis
• Repeat fungal infections
• Poor immune function
• Psoriasis
• A history of naildisease or nail trauma

Finally, you could also be at risk if you’re a smoker or if you use shared bathing facilities. Frequently wearing closed-toe footwear can also restrict blood flow and lead to fungal growth. You can also spread onychomycosis through direct contact.

Here is a video explaining how the VA combined ratings table works from one of our Veterans Disability Lawyers.

Common Symptoms

Wondering if your painful feet can be attributed to onychomycosis? Here are a few of the most common symptoms to look out for:

• Discolored toenails (white, yellow, black or green)
• Brittle toenails
• Thickened toenails
• Toenails that separate from the nail bed
• White patches on the nail bed
• Foul smell

Your physician can examine your feet and perform laboratory testing to confirm your case.

Affect on Your Quality of Life

At the onset, onychomycosis isn’t usually overly painful. In fact, most of the symptoms you’ll first notice are aesthetic in nature. Yet, if left untreated, this condition can quickly get worse.

As it does, its effects become more painful. In time, you’ll find that the skin underneath and around your toenail will become inflamed and sore, feeling painful to the touch.

This can make it difficult to exercise, run errands or simply walk.

Here one of our VA disability lawyers talks about how SMC (Special Monthly Compensation) works to help you get more money for extra expenses related to your disabling condition every month.

Is Onychomycosis a Disability?

Most service-related disabilities are those that affect your quality of life for an extended duration of time.Understanding this,onychomycosis can be a disability, but it is most often short-term and treatable in nature. As such, any rating you receive is unlikely to be a permanent one.

While extensive treatment is usually not required to treat this condition, there are antifungal medications that can help reduce your symptoms and help your toenails heal. There are also medicated nail polishes and creams available, though these are not always as effective. In some cases, nail removal is the only way to ensure the condition is fully treated and will not return.

Veterans can receive VA disability compensation for a range of foot conditions. These can be attributed to a variety of issues, including overusing your feet or injuring your feet while on duty. Whether your bones, tendons, ligaments or nails are injured, you may have a valid case.

Of course, it can often be difficult to trace your foot pain back to an exact event that happened during your time in the military, and that’s OK. Your service-related disability doesn’t have to be linked to something that happened in the military. You just need to be able to show that your diagnosis occurred or got worse while you were in the service.

In general, the VAdisability rating for foot pain is found under 38 CFR § 4.71a: Schedule of Ratings: Musculoskeletal System. The eight diagnostic codes that apply to this schedule are found from5276 to 5283. These are, as follows:

• 5276: Flat feet
• 5277: Weak foot, bilateral
• 5278: Claw foot (pes cavus), acquired
• 5279:Metatarsalgia (anterior, unilateral or bilateral)
• 5280:Hallux valgus (unilateral)
• 5281: Hallux rigidus (unilateral, severe)
• 5282: Hammer toe
• 5283: Malunion ornonunion of tarsal or metatarsal bones

As you might have noticed, there is not a category related to fungal infections of your toe. In fact, most of these conditions will not apply to you if your only symptom is a discolored, brittle, and painful toenail.

To this end, it’s important to consider your symptoms over the exact diagnosis itself. In most cases, this will mean branching outside of the musculoskeletal system ratings and instead, looking at those that cover conditions with symptoms that are similar to yours.

Start your search at 38 CFR§ 4.118: Schedule of Ratings: Skin.

VA Disability Ratings for Service-Related Skin Conditions

Under38 CFR§ 4.118, the VA categorizes and rates various skin conditions that can be traced back to a veteran’s time in the service. Of those, the following diagnostic codes are rated under the VA’s general ratings formula:

• 7806:Dermatitis or eczema
• 7809:Discoid lupus erythematosus
• 7813:Dermatophytosis (includestineaunguium, or onychomycosis)
• 7815:Bullous disorder
• 7816:Psoriasis
• 7820:Skin infections not listed elsewhere
• 7822:Papulosquamous disordersnot listed elsewhere
• 7824:Diseases of keratinization

The most obvious correlation is found under DC 7813. A dermatophytosis infection is one that affects your hair, skin or nails, caused by adermatophyte. As we mentioned earlier, adermatophyte is a type of organism that feeds on keratin, and most often attributed toonychomycosis.

In all, this code also covers the following types of infections:

• Ringworm or fungal infection on your body (tinea corporis)
• Fungal infection on your head or scalp (tinea capitis)
• Fungal infection on your feet (tinea pedis)
• Fungal infection on your beard area (tinea barbae)
• Fungal infection on your nails (tinea unguium, or onychomycosis)
• Fungal infection on your inguinal area/jock itch (tinea cruris)
• Fungal infection that affects skin pigmentation (tinea versicolor)

For all of these above conditions, the following ratings scale applies:

0% Rating for Skin

You have characteristic lesions affecting less than 5% of your entire body or 5% of exposed areas. This rating also applies to anyone who has undergone nothing more than topical therapy to treat their condition over the past year. A zero percent rating isn’t a waste of time, however, because you still qualify for SMC and/or Aid and Attendence financial help.

10% Rating for Skin

You have characteristic lesions affecting between 5% and 20% of your entire body or 5% to 20% of exposed areas.. This rating also applies to anyone who has undergone intermittent systemic therapy ((e.g. corticosteroids, retinoids, etc.) to treat their condition for fewer than six weeks over the past year. A 10% claim opens up a lot of other benefits to help you live your daily life.

30% Rating for Skin

You have characteristic lesions affecting between 20% and 40% of your entire body or 20% to 40% of exposed areas. This rating also applies to anyonewho has undergone systemic therapy to treat their condition for at least six weeks (but not constantly) over the past year. A 30% rating is worth about $508.05 a month all by itself.

Use our VA disability calculator to estimate your
combined VA rating and monthly payment

60% Rating for Skin

You have characteristic lesions affecting more than 40% of your entire body or more than 40% of exposed areas. This rating also applies to anyone who has undergone constant or near-constant systemic therapy to treat their condition over the past year. Once you have a 60% rating, you fulfill one of the requirements for TDIU or 100% VA Disability.

Veterans who can’t hold down a steady job that supports them financially (known as substantially gainful employment) because of their service-connected disabilities are eligible for TDIU if they have:

• At least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more disabling OR
• Two or more service-connected disabilities with at least one rated at 40% or more disabling and a combined rating of 70% or more

Referencing Past Cases

When you’re ready to submit your claim for your foot pain, it can be a little challenging to know where to start.

For many, most obvious code to check would be7813:Dermatophytosis, as this directly mentionsonychomycosis by name. However, there may be instances in which your symptoms more closely align with other conditions on the above list.

That’s why it can help to learn from others who have walked this same road that you have. Let’s take a look at a few cases in which veterans have received disability benefits for onychomycosis, and how they did it.

Toe Fungus VA Disability as a Skin Condition

Let’s start withthis case.

In this instance, the veteran’s nail and foot fungus was classified underDiagnostic Code 7806: Dermatitis. This is a condition that causes your skin to become itchy, dry, red, and inflamed. This veteran received a 10% rating, as their condition did not cover more than 5% of their entire body or exposes areas affected. Moreover, it did not require the use of corticosteroids or any type of immunosuppressive drugs.

Then, there’s also this case ofbilateral toe fungus.

In medical terms, bilateral means it affects both sides of your body. If your toe fungus is bilateral, that means it affects both your left and right foot. This claimant was able to prove that their condition was incurred on both feet as a result of active military service. In return, they were successful in seeking abilateral onychomycosis VA rating and received compensation to help cover their costs incurred.

Establishing a Service Connection

As mentioned, you are not required to show that your condition was caused by your time in service. You do, however, need to have evidence that you firstexperienced the onset ofsymptoms during that time. Most of this information is contained in your Claims File, or C-File, which includes all of your treatment records from your time in service.

Your claim can be made stronger by the inclusion of these service treatment records, as well as private medical records that back up your claim. These records should show that you sought treatment foronychomycosis while in service or shortly after service. In addition to your medical records, you can also include a lay statement from someone close to you who can attest to your claim.

In the case of the veteran with bilateral toe fungus, his claim included a lay statement from his now-wife. She explained that she had dated the veteran before he went into the service, and that he did not have any form of toe fungus at that time. In addition, she also explained that his condition has persisted since leaving the service, despite repeat treatments.

Our How to Apply for VA Benefits guide goes intogreater detailabout the specific documents and details to put into your application.

Using the VA Disability Calculator

If you’ve ever tried to calculate your projected VA disability rating, you know that 50% plus 30% doesn’t equal 80%. While it would be ideal if the ratings worked that way, it’s no secret thatVA mathcan be more than a little complicated.

That’s why we’ve provided an onlineVA Disability Calculatorto help you better understand the numbers you’re working with. To use the calculator, start by inputting your current level of disability. You can list more than one condition if there is one issue that’s secondary to another.

Then, you’ll enter other key details including your number of dependent children and parents, as well as your marital status. From there, you can find your projected disability rating (shown as a percentage), along with your estimated monthly payment amount.

Seek VA Compensation For Onychomycosis

If your feet hurt for any reason, you need to get to the underlying reason why. If you’re a veteran suffering fromonychomycosis, you may be able to trace this condition back to your time in service.

In addition to learning the VA disability rating for your foot pain, it’s also important to perform further research on VA ratings for skin conditions, especially those listed under diagnostic code7813.

When you’re ready to start assembling records, completing statements and creating your claim, we’re here to help. Our experienced team of VA disability attorneys can help make sure your claim is accurate and complete before you file, helping to improve your chance of acceptance.

To learn more about how our services work or to discuss your claim today, feel free tocontact usat any time.

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