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Welcome to The Veterans Disability Nexus, where we provide unique insights and expertise on medical evidence related to VA-rated disabilities. Leah Bucholz, a US Army Veteran, Physician Assistant, & former Compensation & Pension Examiner shares her knowledge related to Independent Medical Opinions often referred to as “Nexus Letters” in support of your pursuit of VA Disability every Tuesday & Wednesday at 7AM Central.
Take control of your medical evidence related to your benefits and visit https://podcast.prestigeveteranmctx.info/veteran/ for more information and to connect directly with us!
Guys, it's Leah B here from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I am a U. Army veteran, physician assistant and former compensation and pension examiner. So today I wanna come on and discuss cold weather injuries. We just recently did a video on hot weather injuries.
Leah Bucholz:And so I thought we'd come on and talk about some of these because they're pretty common and a lot of veterans have suffered from cold weather injuries and have residuals from them many years later. So welcome back again, for those of you new to the channel that we like to break down veterans health related and benefit related issues, your rights and plain practical language educationally so that you guys can be informed and try to ask your doctors or your healthcare providers to assist you with things medically related to your service, give you resources to find accredited legal representation if you don't know where to find it, things like that. So I'm Leah B. And today we're gonna talk about again, something that's often very overlooked in the VA world and that is cold weather injuries and how they connect to VA disability benefits. So whether you were stationed in Korea training at Fort Drum or just stuck on a ten day field trip in freezing temperatures, you're going to want to hear all about this one.
Leah Bucholz:So understanding cold weather injuries. So what are cold weather injuries? So a lot of you guys have heard of things like frostbite, frostnip and things like that. So some cold weather injuries can be just as debilitating as any other service related condition. They're not always dramatic, but they're often long lasting and in many cases permanent.
Leah Bucholz:The most common cold weather related injuries military service are things like frostbite, like I mentioned. So tissue freezing, usually fingers, toes, ears, nose, trench foot, also known as immersion foot from prolonged exposure to wet or cold conditions. That's why we were always told, make sure you're wearing dry socks, make sure your medics, when I was a medic, we were always checking feet, making sure that people were not getting trench foot or those cold weather related injuries. So chill blains, small itchy red or purple bumps caused by cold and damp exposures. Hypothermia, when your body temperature drops dangerously low and long term cold sensitivity or peripheral neuropathy, pain, numbness, or tingling in your extremities even years later.
Leah Bucholz:These are more than just winter war stories, right? They can lead to nerve damage, circulatory issues, and functional limitations that stick around long after discharge. So can you get VA disability for a cold weather injury? Of course. So the answer is yes.
Leah Bucholz:So cold injuries can be service connected and the VA does rate them. So you're probably not gonna have something like frostbite forever, right? You're gonna have the residual of frostbite or the long lasting side effect, whether it's your toes got amputated because they lost sensation and didn't get good circulation. You're gonna have some kind of long term side effect from that. So to get a claim approved, you need the same three elements that we always talk about, right?
Leah Bucholz:So you're gonna need to have a current diagnosis like neuropathy, cold sensitivity, some type of tissue damage, whether that's an amputation or something like that. You've gotta have that in service cold exposure or injury like frostbite on duty or documented time and cold field conditions. And then you have to have a nexus. So a medical opinion linking your current condition to your military service. Now that nexus doesn't have to be from an outside source like a company like mine or even your treating doctor.
Leah Bucholz:You can get a no cost medical opinion from the VAC and P exam. It may not be favorable. It may be negative or it may be positive, but if it's pretty straightforward and your evidence is there, hopefully the C and P examiners will agree and then the adjudicators will take that opinion and read you. But you can also ask your treating doctor or you can come to a company like mine that reviews medical records and provides opinions when the evidence aligns. So here's an example.
Leah Bucholz:So veterans who served during the Korean war or at Northern US bases often report burning or numbness in their hands and feet decades later, and many of those are getting approved for compensation. So what are some challenges with VA claims for cold weather injuries? So here's the hard truth. Okay, cold injuries are often undocumented, especially in older records or field situations where you might not have gone to the medic or even realize that you were injured. A lot of cold exposures happen in training, overnight ops or long range patrols where the last thing you're gonna do is think about going to sick call.
Leah Bucholz:You don't wanna get ragged on by your battle buddies or your first sergeant. Maybe you're deployed and you just don't have the ability to do that. Maybe it was before electronic health records and it was really just hard to get things documented or get it into your long term, that paper record. So you still have some options even if your stuff is undocumented or undocumented, you might be able to get buddy statements from someone in your unit who remembers the operation in sub zero temperatures. You could use your unit location documentation.
Leah Bucholz:So proving you were deployed or stationed somewhere cold. Now is that in of itself gonna do it? Maybe not, but in combination, all of the evidence in totality may be supportive for you. So VA medical exams, especially when a doctor can verify nerve damage, pain or temperature sensitivity today. So also lay evidence, your own written account can be very powerful.
Leah Bucholz:The VA has recognized that cold injuries often go underreported at the time and they encourage veterans to speak up later when symptoms show. So what does the VA look for? How does the VA rate these conditions? They look at things like numbness, pain, burning in the extremities, skin discoloration, nail abnormalities, ulcers, cold sensitivity that interferes with work or daily living. Your functional capacity has a lot to do with it, right?
Leah Bucholz:So circulatory or nerve damage confirmed by a medical provider can be helpful. Each affected limb can be rated individually. That means if both feet and both hands are impacted, you could receive multiple separate ratings depending on the severity. The VA typically uses diagnostic code 700122 for cold injury residuals. Ratings can range anywhere from 10 to 30% per extremity with higher combined ratings depending on symptoms.
Leah Bucholz:And in some cases, these injuries can qualify you for TDIU or special monthly compensation if they significantly limit your mobility and function. So let's talk about some research because I always like to give you guys research that you can look up yourself, give to your treating doctor, talk with your accredited agent or attorney about to see if they think it would be helpful. So let's back this up with some science because the research is clear. Cold weather injuries have lasting impact and veterans are a high risk group. So VA cold injury protocol study in 02/2004, the VA conducted evaluations on Korean war veterans exposed to extreme cold results showed that over fifty percent of those studied experienced long term effects like neuropathy, cold sensitivity and chronic pain even decades after exposure.
Leah Bucholz:Military Medicine Journal, a study published in Military Medicine found that even mild phosphate or immersion foot can cause long term vascular damage, poor healing and reduced function, especially when the injuries are repeated over time. VA's cold injury residuals guide, the VA's official training materials state that cold injury residuals may not appear until many years later and commonly include paresthesias or tingling, numbness, pain, or chronic infections. So here's a quote from the VA, cold injuries often result in chronic residual symptoms that may be permanent. So what can you do? If any of this sounds familiar to you, if you've got numb toes, burning hands in cold weather or worsening circulation issues, here's what I would recommend.
Leah Bucholz:Obviously go see your treating doctor so that they can kind of give you their medical opinion on what's going on. So preferably one that is familiar with cold weather injuries or one that really knows you and has been treating you for a long time. You can get your service records, focus on duty stations or training events in cold environments. You can write a detailed statement explaining the exposure, the symptoms and how it affects you now. You can ask for a Nexus letter from your treating doctor if they're willing to support you with one that says that whatever condition you have is at least as likely as not related to your in service exposures.
Leah Bucholz:If you've been denied or you need to file a new claim, if you know how to do that on your own, great or connect with a VSO organizations like the VAB, VFW, American Legion can help guide you through it. You can also talk to an accredited attorney or an accredited claims agent. You can seek those guys out on va.gov. There's an accreditation search so you can find somebody in your area or really nationwide as long as they're accredited they can help you with this. So just remember that the VA recognizes these injuries and you have every right to get the benefits you have earned.
Leah Bucholz:So cold injuries aren't just a thing of the past. If you served in the field, on the line or anywhere with the snow and ice where you had snow and ice in your boots, your service might be affecting you even now. And here's the thing, there's help out there. You can get treatment, support and compensation. You just need to speak up and start the process.
Leah Bucholz:So thank you for joining me on our YouTube channel today. Please like and subscribe, drop some comments. Always love to hear y'all's feedback. A lot of you guys will drop comments and tell me about injuries that you had in service related to whatever the topic is. So I hope this was helpful to you guys and I guess I'll see you guys soon.
Leah Bucholz:Thanks for watching.