Endometriosis VA rating
The VA rates endometriosis under DC 7629 / 7618, and most ratings land in the 10–50% (100% post-hysterectomy) range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 7629 / 7618 — 38 CFR §4.116
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 10% | Symptoms requiring continuous treatment for control. |
| 30% | Pelvic pain or heavy bleeding not controlled by treatment. |
| 50% | Lesions involving bowel or bladder with uncontrolled pain/bleeding. |
| 100% → 50% | Hysterectomy: 100% for three months post-surgery, then 50% permanent. |
The schedule's own words
Ratings turn on specific terms, and a record that describes the same reality in different language often reads as a lower rating. These are the words this code measures:
- not controlled by treatment
- confirmed by laparoscopy
- bowel or bladder involvement
Evidence that moves this rating
- Laparoscopy/surgical reports
- Treatment history and symptom log (pain days, bleeding)
What your statement has to cover
Doctors chart symptoms; they rarely chart consequences. That part is yours, and it is usually what separates a documented rating from a reported one.
- The diagnosis MUST be confirmed by laparoscopy to be rated — push for the definitive procedure.
- Document treatments tried and that symptoms persist ("not controlled by treatment" is the 30%+ key).
- FSAD from psychiatric medications qualifies for SMC-K (~$139.87/mo) even at 0% — the most-missed benefit for women veterans.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What endometriosis can lead to3 documented pathways
A secondary claim runs through a condition the VA already accepts, so the argument about your service is already won. What is left is the medical link — and a nexus opinion has to name the mechanism, not just the pair.
| Can lead to | The mechanism a nexus has to state |
|---|---|
| Depression | Chronic severe pelvic pain and reproductive complications cause depression. |
| Urinary frequency / voiding dysfunction | Lesions involving the bladder cause urinary dysfunction and painful voiding. |
| Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) | Lesions involving the bowel cause dysmotility and IBS-type dysfunction. |
A pathway existing in the literature is not the same as your claim being granted — your records and the VA decide that. How secondary claims work covers the argument.
Before you spend money on this claim
VA ratings do not add. Each new rating applies only to the part of you the VA still counts as unimpaired, then rounds to the nearest ten — so from 70%, a new 10% condition leaves you at exactly 70% and changes your payment by nothing.
That does not make the claim worthless; it can still matter for TDIU, for SMC, or later when something else is added. But it is worth knowing before you pay for a nexus letter rather than after. Check what one more condition does at your rating — it takes a minute.