Skin condition VA rating
The VA rates skin condition under DC 7806 / 7816, and most ratings land in the 0–60% range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 7806 — 38 CFR §4.118
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 0% | Less than 5% of the body affected; topical therapy only. |
| 10% | 5–20% of the body/exposed areas, OR intermittent systemic therapy under 6 weeks in the past year. |
| 30% | 20–40% of the body/exposed areas, OR systemic therapy totaling 6+ weeks in the past year. |
| 60% | More than 40% of the body/exposed areas, OR constant/near-constant systemic therapy (corticosteroids, immunosuppressives). |
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:
- percent of entire body affected
- exposed areas
- constant or near-constant systemic therapy
Evidence that moves this rating
- Prescription history, especially any systemic (pill/injection) therapy with dates and duration
- Dated photographs of flare-ups showing affected areas
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 shortcut most veterans miss: minimal coverage + constant systemic medication = the 60% rating. Medication requirement rates as high as body coverage.
- Photograph flare-ups when they happen — exams often catch you between flares.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What skin condition 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 chronic skin disease drives social withdrawal and depression. |
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.