Are you a veteran living with painful bone spurs? These smooth, bony projections that develop along joints can cause serious discomfort, loss of mobility, and pain that prevents you from doing normal tasks. Although you cannot get a VA disability rating specifically for bone spurs, you can be rated for any related, service-connectable issues or pain you experience because of them.
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The physical stressors of military service can develop into pain over time. When they do, you deserve VA compensation. Below, we describe what bone spurs are, what causes them, and how you can earn a VA disability rating for bone spurs.
In this article about VA disability ratings for bone spurs:
What are bone spurs?
Bone spurs, also known as osteophytes, are hard bumps of extra bone that can develop along the edge of your bones. Most often, bone spurs form where your bones meet at the joint on the spine, feet, hands, knees, fingers, shoulders, or hips.
Most bone spurs are detected via CT scan or MRI, and can be caused by any type of injury or inflammation around a joint.
Think of all of the hard, physical labor you may have done during military service. Carrying heavy backpacks, lifting machinery, or climbing a rock face can damage your back and joints. Your body’s response to worn down, damaged cartilage is to create bone spurs.
The most common cause of bone spurs, however, is joint damage from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis that breaks down the cartilage at the ends of bones. When this happens, the body produces bone spurs around the damaged area to try to repair the loss. We will explain this connection in depth later in the article.
Other causes of bone spurs include:
- Ankylosing spondylitis (joint overuse)
- Tendon injury
- Genetics
- Diet
- Obesity
Symptoms of bone spurs can vary, based on where in the body they’ve formed. In some cases, symptoms go undetected and may not require treatment. When bone spurs start to put pressure on nearby nerves, start to restrict movement, or rub against other bones or tissues, symptoms may start to appear.
Symptoms may include:
- Pain or stiffness in the affected joint
- Weakness or numbness in arms or legs
- Reduced range of motion
- Swelling
- Tendon tears
- Muscle spasms
VA disability rating for bone spurs
If you’ve been diagnosed with a service-connected disability that causes bone spurs, it’s possible to earn VA disability benefits.
Because there is no specific diagnostic code for bone spurs, the VA may rate bone spurs analogously. This means the VA can rate bone spurs based on the condition that most closely matches the veteran’s symptoms. The diagnostic code the VA will use depends on where your bone spurs have developed and what symptoms you are experiencing.
Your bone spurs may also be tied to other service-connected conditions that are rateable, and you may receive a rating for those conditions instead.
Bone spurs in feet
If bone spurs have formed in your feet, it can be difficult to wear shoes and walk. Depending on your specific symptoms, the VA might rate your bone spurs analogous to Diagnostic code 5279 for metatarsalgia (Morton’s Disease). The highest rating you could receive under this code is 10%.
Bone spurs caused by arthritis
Osteoarthritis, a form of arthritis also known as the “wear and tear disease” often occurs slowly and is a result of aging. But in veterans, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, the form of osteoarthritis that results from injury to a joint, is more common.
The VA may rate bone spurs caused by arthritis under diagnostic code 5003 for degenerative arthritis. In this case, you could earn a rating of 10% or 20% for your arthritis, which caused the spurs to develop. You could also receive a higher rating for impaired range of motion at the joint. Your bone spurs could further affect your range of motion, warranting a higher rating for your condition.
Bone spurs caused by ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a rare form of arthritis that causes spinal inflammation and over time can cause vertebrae to fuse together. In response, the body forms bone spurs that could further decrease your range of motion. This condition is rated under diagnostic code 5240, and you could earn a rating between 10% and 100%. Once again, you would not be rated specifically for your bone spurs, but they could affect the severity of your overall condition, leading to a higher rating.
VA rating for pain
Another way veterans could earn disability benefits for bone spurs is by seeking benefits for the pain their spurs cause. VA disability benefits for chronic pain are based on the severity of symptoms or impairments that result from your pain.
VA disability lawyer, Lori Underwood said, “Back pain ratings are evaluated in the diagnostic code usually by incapacitating episodes or, in lesser severity, by loss of range of motion.”
If your bone spurs are causing you to experience chronic pain, you could be owed VA compensation if your spurs were brought on due to your military service.
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Service connecting bone spurs
The majority of joint injuries in military populations occur during physical training, military training, and recreational activities. If you have experienced pain in your back, hip, spine, knees, or neck, in the same spot since you were injured during service, you might have osteoarthritis or another service-connected joint condition.
VA disability lawyer Zack Evans said, “Osteoarthritis can affect major joints, including the spine, which is why it’s one of the most debilitating conditions that veterans can face.”
If your records show you experienced joint strain or injury during service, this can be helpful in service-connecting conditions related to your bone spurs. However, the wear and tear caused by drills and training or combat could also contribute.
TDIU for bone spurs
Discomfort and pain from lifting, sitting, standing, or bending can make working more difficult. For veterans with bone spurs who can’t work due to their pain, total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) could be granted.
TDIU pays the same monthly compensation as a 100% rating, which is currently [varating 100] for a veteran with no dependents. To be eligible for TDIU as a result of this condition, you must prove that you can’t keep gainful employment because of the pain your bone spurs have caused, and you must prove that your condition is service-related.
How our VA-accredited attorneys can help
Woods & Woods has worked with thousands of veterans nationwide to get them the VA benefits they deserve. Call us for a free case evaluation to find out how we can help. If we take your case, you only pay us a percentage of your back pay if we win.
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Frequently asked questions
There is no diagnostic code for bone spurs. However, the VA may rate bone spurs analogously, or veterans may be able to receive disability for conditions related to their bone spurs.
A normal military lifestyle could cause joint injury from physical training, combat, falls, heavy lifting, or joint overuse that can result in the development of bone spurs in veterans.
Neil Woods
Neil Woods is a VA disability attorney and the owner and president of Woods & Woods. He received his law degree from Western Michigan University.
