Tinnitus VA rating
The VA rates tinnitus under DC 6260, and most ratings land in the flat 10% under current rules range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 6260 — 38 CFR §4.87
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 10% | Recurrent tinnitus — a flat 10% whether in one ear, both ears, or the head. |
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:
- recurrent tinnitus
- constant ringing
Evidence that moves this rating
- An audiology exam on record
- A lay statement describing onset during service and persistence since
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.
- Name the in-service noise event: weapons, aircraft, machinery — when and where.
- State that the ringing is recurrent/constant and describe the impact: sleep loss, concentration, anxiety.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What tinnitus can lead to6 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 |
|---|---|
| GERD (acid reflux) | Chronic stress from constant ringing increases stomach acid production. |
| Erectile dysfunction / FSAD | Severe distress, sleep disruption, and anxiety from tinnitus cause erectile dysfunction. |
| Migraine headaches | Constant ringing acts as a severe migraine trigger. |
| Depression | Chronic, inescapable noise disrupts sleep, focus, and mood. |
| Insomnia | Ringing interferes with falling and staying asleep. |
| Vertigo / vestibular disorder | The cochlea and the vestibular organs sit in the same labyrinth and share a blood supply and the eighth cranial nerve, so noise or blast damage severe enough to produce persistent tinnitus commonly disturbs balance alongside it. |
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.