VA Ratings for Rhinitis

Rhinitis is presumed service-connected for many veterans, including those who were exposed to burn pits and others who served in areas where they were exposed to other fine particles in the air. Of course, establishing a service connection is only part of the VA disability claims process. It’s also up to the veteran to show the extent of the symptoms caused by rhinitis to establish the right VA disability rating.

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What is Rhinitis?

There are several different types of rhinitis. Some common symptoms of rhinitis include:

Stuffy or runny nose
Sneezing
Mucus in the throat
Coughing

Specific types may involve additional symptoms.

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How Does the VA Rate Rhinitis?

VA disability ratings for allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis are limited. The are just two possible ratings:

30% when the condition presents with polyps
10% when polyps are not present, but the condition results in:
- More than 50% nasal obstruction on both sides, or
- Total obstruction of one nasal passage

However, it’s important to be aware that there are several medical conditions that may be secondary to rhinitis, and secondary-connected conditions may increase a veteran’s VA disability rating.

Conditions Secondary to Rhinitis

The best source of information about how rhinitis may be triggering or affecting your other medical conditions is your doctor. An experienced VA disability benefits advocate can also help assess your medical records for conditions known to have been associated with rhinitis. Some conditions that may be secondarily connected to rhinitis include:

Sinusitis
Sleep apnea
Migraines
Depression

Depending on the severity of these conditions and your ability to show that they are connected to your service-connected rhinitis, they could increase your overall VA disability rating. For example, depending on severity, sinusitis may be assigned a rating of 0%, 10%, 30% or 50%.

But disability ratings aren’t simply added together. Here’s how a combined rhinitis/sinusitis rating might play out in one circumstance:

A veteran is rated 30% disabled due to rhinitis, then establishes a secondary service connection for sinusitis. The secondary condition is also rated at 30%. But, the second 30% rating is only applied to what’s left over after the first rating–in this case, 70%. 70% x 30% = 21%. That’s combined with the rhinitis rating of 30% for a total of 51%. But, VA disability ratings are only assigned in increments of 10%, so it’s rounded down to 50%.

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Fighting for the VA Disability Benefits You Deserve

No one should miss out on VA disability benefits because they don’t fully understand the process, don’t recognize that additional conditions may be connected, or simply don’t know what evidence is required. At Disabled Vets, our experienced advocates put their knowledge to work every day to make sure veterans and their families get the benefits they deserve. To learn more about how we can help, call 888-373-4722 or fill out our contact form here.

Call 1-888-373-4722 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form