Meniere's Disease is a common inner ear problem, and sometimes it can occur from specific injuries from service events or wear and tear over time during a Veteran's time in the military. Because it has similar symptoms to other ear conditions, and can cause both tinnitus and vertigo, it's important that Veterans understand the connection between all conditions so that they can file for VA disability benefits accordingly.
In this blog, we'll go over everything you need to know about Meniere's Disease and what it means for your VA disability benefits:
What is Meniere's Disease?
Simply put, Meniere's Disease is an inner ear condition without clear causes. The symptoms include the following:
Recurring dizzy spells, also known as vertigo
Hearing loss, which is usually worsening over time
Ringing in the ear, known as tinnitus
A sensation of pressure in the ear
The exact cause of Meniere's Disease isn't known, but medical experts believe that it can be a result of the following factors (or a combination of several of these):
Autoimmune disorders
Inability of the ear to drain fluid
Viral infections
Genetics
How does the VA rate Meniere's Disease?
The VA rates Meniere's Disease under Diagnostic Code 6205 in the 38 CFR (the schedule for rating disabilities). Unfortunately, Meniere's Disease is a tricky diagnosis to arrive at because you often end up with both positive and negative testing. Regardless, the ratings are as follows, based off of the symptom frequency and severity:
100% rating: Hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring more than once weekly, with or without tinnitus.
60% rating: Hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring from one to four times a month, with or without tinnitus.
30% rating: Hearing impairment with vertigo less than once a month, with or without tinnitus.
So, as you can see, worse symptoms = more VA disability benefits for Meniere's Disease.
Beware of pyramiding when it comes to Meniere's Disease
Veterans who want to file a VA disability benefits claim for Meniere's Disease need to be aware of pyramiding! Basically, pyramiding is a rule where no two conditions or symptoms can be rated twice. So, if you're getting VA disability benefits for Meniere's Disease, then you won't be able to get them for vertigo since the symptoms are the same and already included in your original rating for Meniere's. That would result in unjustifiably high compensation, according to the VA.
These overlapping symptoms and conditions can make it difficult to determine which are coming from where – which leads the VA to combine conditions under one rating. Basically, Veterans need to be careful that their symptoms aren't being counted twice. We wrote an entire blog on pyramiding here if you'd like to know more.
How we at MRPY view service connection for Meniere’s Disease and its components
For these cases, we provide a medical opinion with a final diagnosis of Meniere’s Disease. Although the Veteran may be service-connected for some components of this condition, it was not the final diagnosis from their service injury or exposure.
So, in these situations, we ask the VA to recognize this fact and replace their service connections for the components with Meniere’s Disease. We also ask the VA to rate on this scale rather than the components scale as it is more favorable for the Veteran.
How to start a claim and get VA disability benefits for Meniere's Disease
If you're a Veteran with Meniere's Disease and you need VA disability benefits, the first step is getting a medical evaluation if you haven't already. At MRPY, our independent providers are experienced with VA disability service-connection documentation – getting you prepared for a successful claim. By getting proper and thorough documentation, you can prove to the VA that your condition is service-connected.
Start the process by getting a medical evaluation or chart review (a review of your claim documents and medical evidence, if you already have them). We also support Veterans with DBQs, Nexus Letters, and more. You can view our full list of services here.
