Veterans Benefits for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
Are you seeking VA disability for hearing loss or tinnitus? One of our North Carolina VA disability lawyers may be able to help. For a FREE, no-obligation consultation, please call 1-800-525-7111. Veterans who may have suffered hearing loss or tinnitus due to potentially defective 3M earplugs may qualify for compensation through a 3M earplug lawsuit, as well.
There are never any upfront costs, and you won’t pay any attorney fees unless we win your case and you receive compensation.
Veterans Disability Benefits for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
A significant percentage of veterans suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the hears) and/or hearing loss related to their time in service. Training and active duty around firearms, artillery, aircraft, heavy machinery, or other noise-producing instruments can cause permanent damage. These conditions can form the basis of a successful claim for VA disability benefits.
How to Get VA Disability for Hearing Loss
As with any VA Disability claim, the steps involved in claiming veterans benefits for hearing loss or tinnitus are:
- establishing that you have a current diagnosis of a hearing problem
- producing some evidence that some event or series of events during your service period caused that condition
- getting a medical professional to link those time-of-service events to the current condition.
VA Disability for Hearing Loss
There are specific tests used by audiologists to diagnose hearing loss — the Maryland CNC test, and the “puretone” audiometric test. BOTH tests must be performed in order to satisfy the VA’s requirements of a current diagnosis, and the test results must be within a specified numeric range. The VA will then rate your degree of hearing loss according to a formula, usually either 0% or 10%. In a very small percentage of cases, a more severe degree of hearing loss can result in a higher rating if the other requirements are met.
Some veterans who do not develop (or notice) hearing loss until many years after their time in service can still qualify for benefits for hearing loss if they can prove, via their service records sometimes supplemented with “buddy statements,” that they were exposed to loud noises during their service.
VA Disability for Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a totally separate impairment from hearing loss. It is usually defined as a buzzing or ringing sensation that is present all or nearly all the time. Most veterans who make credible complaints of tinnitus and who can show that their time in service included exposure to loud noises will receive a rating for tinnitus. Unlike hearing loss (see above), there is only one VA rating available for tinnitus — a 10% rating — and that is the rating you get whether you have tinnitus in one ear or both.
Veterans Benefits for Both Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
You can have tinnitus without experiencing hearing loss, and you may have hearing loss without experiencing tinnitus. If you can prove both, you will receive a VA disability rating for each of the separately. These ratings will then be combined with any other VA ratings you might have in calculating your overall VA rating. Your rate of compensation is then based on your overall rating.
Call Our VA Disability Attorneys Today
Those who served our country deserve justice and the benefits they’ve earned. Our North Carolina veterans disability lawyers are ready to help however we can.
For a FREE, no-obligation consultation with a VA-accredited veterans disability lawyer serving veterans in North Carolina, please call 1-800-525-7111 or complete the short form below.
“By far the best law firm that actually cares about helping veterans.”
–B. Fields, Riddle & Brantley client
We will review your eligibility for available VA benefits and advise you on your best legal options. The case review is free and we don’t get paid unless you do. If you don’t receive VA disability, you won’t pay any attorney fees. It’s as simple as that.
We also have Social Security disability lawyers available to help with those claims and appeals, as well.
Call 1-800-525-7111 and let’s review your case with a free evaluation today.
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