Can I get a separate rating for nerve pain from my back?
Yes. Nerve symptoms running down the leg are rated separately from the spine itself, and each leg gets its own rating.
A large number of veterans rated for a back condition have radiculopathy that is documented in their records and never separately rated.
What radiculopathy is
When a spinal condition compresses or irritates a nerve root, the symptoms travel along that nerve rather than staying in the back. That usually means pain, numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness running into the buttock, thigh, calf, or foot. Sciatica is the common name for radiculopathy along the sciatic nerve.
How it is rated
The sciatic nerve is rated under 38 CFR 4.124a, diagnostic code 8520 1:
- 80 percent: complete paralysis, foot dangles and drops
- 60 percent: severe incomplete paralysis with marked muscular atrophy
- 40 percent: moderately severe incomplete paralysis
- 20 percent: moderate incomplete paralysis
- 10 percent: mild incomplete paralysis
Other nerves have their own codes. The femoral nerve, which runs down the front of the thigh, is diagnostic code 8526.
Where the ratings that get missed come from
Three things stack here, and each is easy to overlook.
The spine and the nerve are rated separately. The spinal condition is evaluated on its own criteria, and the nerve impairment is evaluated on the nerve criteria. These are different impairments, so rating both is not pyramiding under 38 CFR 4.14. 2
Each leg is its own rating. Radiculopathy affecting both legs produces two ratings, one per side, not one combined figure.
Both legs triggers the bilateral factor. When both lower extremities are service-connected, 38 CFR 4.26 adds 10 percent of their combined value before combining with everything else. 3
The secondary route
When radiculopathy is caused by an already service-connected spinal condition, it can be established as a secondary condition under 38 CFR 3.310. 4 That requires a current diagnosis, the service-connected primary condition, and medical evidence linking the two.
What supports it
Radiculopathy is generally established through neurological examination findings, including reflexes, sensation, and strength testing, along with imaging showing nerve root involvement and a documented history of the symptoms and where they travel. Electrodiagnostic testing such as EMG or nerve conduction studies may appear in the record.
The severity levels turn on words like mild, moderate, and moderately severe, which the schedule does not define precisely. That makes the specificity of the examination findings unusually important here.
Reading your decision
A rating decision that addresses the spine but says nothing about the lower extremities is worth comparing against what the medical records document. Nerve symptoms noted in treatment records but absent from the rating are a visible gap.
An accredited VSO can review a decision at no cost.