How High Can Service Connected Hearing Loss Percentage

Hearing Loss Explained

Hearing loss is a very common problem among older adults in the United States (U.Southward.). Specifically, approximately ane-third of adults in the U.S. between the ages of 65 and 75 have some degree of hearing loss. The percentage increases to 50 in adults over the historic period of 75.

Hearing loss is categorized into iii chief types: (ane) conductive (i.e., involves outer or center ear); (ii) sensorineural (i.east., involves inner ear); and (3) mixed (i.e., a combination of the two). Regardless of the type of hearing loss, the symptoms remain fairly consistent and include the following:

Muffling of speech and other sounds
Difficulty agreement words, especially against background racket or in a crowd
Trouble hearing consonants
Oft asking others to speak more slowly, clearly, and loudly
Needing to turn up the volume of the tv or radio
Withdrawal from conversations
Avoidance of some social settings

Hearing loss can have many causes, and in some cases, the specific cause may determine the level of severity. Mutual causes include:

Damage to the inner ear: Exposure to loud noise over fourth dimension may cause wear and tear on the nerve cells in the ear that send sound signals to the brain. When these nerve cells are damaged, hearing loss occurs.
Gradual buildup of earwax: Earwax can cake the ear canal and prevent conduction of sound waves. This cause tends to produce a more temporary problem every bit earwax removal can help restore hearing.
Ear infection and abnormal bone growths/tumors: Infections or abnormal growths in the outer or eye ear
Ruptured eardrum (i.e., tympanic membrane perforation): Loud blasts of noise, sudden changes in pressure, and poking the eardrum with an object can all cause an eardrum to rupture and subsequently bear upon hearing.

Hearing Loss and Veterans

Co-ordinate to VA, more than ii.7 million veterans currently receive disability benefits for hearing loss or tinnitus (i.e., ringing in the ears); yet, the actual number may exist even higher. That is, in that location may be additional veterans with hearing loss who are not receiving VA inability compensation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that veterans are 30 percent more likely than non-veterans to have severe hearing damage. Specifically, those who served after 9/11 are four times more likely to have hearing loss equally compared to their civilian counterparts. Hearing loss tin significantly bear upon veterans' quality of life and daily functioning. It is important for veterans with hearing loss to receive a diagnosis and seek handling from a wellness professional person.

How to Receive VA Inability Benefits for Hearing Loss

In society to receive VA disability benefits for hearing loss, veterans must bear witness to VA that their hearing loss is the result of their time in service. For direct service connection, they must institute the following three elements: (1) a current diagnosis of hearing loss; (two) an in-service event that may take acquired or contributed to their hearing loss; and (iii) a medical opinion definitively linking the in-service event to their hearing loss.

Electric current Diagnosis

Equally mentioned to a higher place, the get-go stride to getting VA disability benefits for hearing loss is demonstrating that you are currently diagnosed with a qualifying condition. VA is extremely strict about the type of diagnosis it accepts when it comes to hearing loss.

Generally speaking, you are normally diagnosed with hearing loss when in that location are certain decibel levels that are lost at different frequencies of hearing, which tin can be determined in a regular md'due south role. However, for VA purposes, veterans must undergo a hearing exam by a licensed audiologist. The audiologist must administer two separate tests in order for VA to accept your current diagnosis of hearing loss:

Maryland CNC Test: This examination measures hearing loss in veterans through a 50-word test that scores how well you recognize speech. VA uses the results of this exam to determine if your hearing loss qualifies for disability and, if so, to rate the severity of your condition.
Puretone Audiometric Test: This examination determines your level of general hearing loss past measuring the faintest tones you can pick upwards on. In other words, you lot typically wear a set up of headphones and raise your hand when you hear a beep.

Again, VA requires these specific tests to institute a diagnosis of hearing loss for bounty purposes. Yous may have a diagnosis of hearing loss from your principal care doctor, but this will not count as evidence towards your claim.

In-Service Event

The 2d function of establishing directly service connection involves submitting evidence of an in-service consequence that may have caused or contributed to your hearing loss. Common in-service events that lead to hearing loss include combat service, exposure to artillery fire and small arms fire, and certain war machine occupational specialties (MOS) that involve mechanical piece of work such as on vehicles or aircrafts.

Medical Nexus Stance

Obtaining a medical nexus opinion that links your in-service event and your current, diagnosed hearing loss is crucial in establishing direct service connection. Normally, a positive medical nexus opinion will country that your hearing loss is "at least as probable every bit not" due to your time in service.

How Does VA Rate Hearing Loss?

In one case service connectedness is established, VA will assign a inability rating based on severity. Specifically, VA takes the results of veterans' pure tone threshold test and averages it for each ear. To do so, VA uses a grid chart with different frequencies and lines up the thresholds, using the "Numeric Designation of Hearing Impairment Based on Puretone Threshold Average and Spoken language Discrimination," to determine a Roman numeral designation (I through XI) for hearing impairment based on a combination of the percent of speech discrimination (i.east., horizontal rows) and the puretone threshold average (i.e., vertical columns). The Roman numeral is located at the signal where the percentage of speech discrimination and puretone threshold average intersect.

Veterans can find the above-mentioned intersection using the table below. To do so, veterans should kickoff find the Roman numeral going downward the left side for the ear that has greater auditory function. Next, veterans should locate the Roman numeral of the ear with less auditory functioning, which can be found across the top of the table. Finally, veterans should locate the rating where the two Roman numerals intersect Please note that VA rates both ears together, resulting in only 1 rating for hearing loss.

	I	Two	III	Iv	V	6	Seven	Eight	IX	X	Xi
I	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	10%	10%
Ii		0%	0%	0%	10%	10%	x%	10%	10%	10%	10%
III			0%	10%	10%	10%	20%	twenty%	20%	20%	20%
IV				x%	10%	20%	20%	20%	thirty%	30%	30%
V					twenty%	20%	xxx%	xxx%	40%	twoscore%	xl%
VI						30%	thirty%	twoscore%	40%	50%	60%
7							40%	xl%	50%	sixty%	60%
VIII								50%	fifty%	60%	seventy%
IX									60%	70%	fourscore%
X										80%	90%
XI											100%

Therefore, veterans can receive up to a 100 percent disability rating for hearing loss; nonetheless, this is rather uncommon. Well-nigh often, veterans receive a 10 pct rating for hearing loss. Over again, disability ratings are based off of specific hearing tests thereby invoking a very literal application of the rating schedule. That is, it is very difficult for veterans to receive a disability rating for hearing loss higher than the one assigned based on their test results alone.

Nonetheless, veterans tin can submit additional show supporting the fact that their hearing loss warrants a higher disability rating. For case, veterans can submit lay testimony from family unit members describing the need to speak loudly, constantly echo things, or any other hearing-related bug that they take witnessed the veteran experience since service.