Scars VA rating
The VA rates scars under DC 7800–7805, and most ratings land in the 10–30%+ range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 7800–7805 — 38 CFR §4.118
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 10% | One or two scars that are unstable or painful (DC 7804). |
| 20% | Three or four unstable or painful scars. |
| 30% | Five or more unstable or painful scars. |
| +10% | If any single scar is BOTH unstable and painful, the VA must add 10% to the evaluation. |
| 10–80% (DC 7800) | Disfiguring scars of the head, face, or neck — rated on characteristics of disfigurement. |
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:
- painful on examination
- unstable scar (frequent loss of skin covering)
- both unstable and painful
Evidence that moves this rating
- Clear photographs with a ruler for scale
- Exam notes documenting tenderness and any skin breakdown
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.
- State clearly which scars are PAINFUL, which are UNSTABLE (skin breaks down), and which are both — each word changes the math.
- Count them: the rating is literally a headcount of qualifying scars.
- Scar pain/instability ratings STACK on top of disfigurement or underlying-injury ratings — you can receive both.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What scars can lead to1 documented pathway
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 | Visible scars and disfigurement commonly cause embarrassment, social withdrawal, and depression — mental health secondary to service-connected scars is a recognized and frequently overlooked claim. |
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.