Hearing & Tinnitus

Jim Fausone

Veteran Disability Lawyer

We receive hundreds of emails a month from veterans, many of them claim hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing).  The problem is always connecting the disability to service.  VA traditionally looks only to certain types of jobs or combat status as contributing to hearing loss or tinnitus. 

Among veterans, tinnitus and hearing loss are the most common service-connected disabilities, with more than 1.5 million veterans receiving compensation for those problems at the end of 2011. Of about 805,000 veterans who began receiving disability compensation that year, nearly 148,000 were for tinnitus or hearing loss, according to a recent VA report. By comparison, the next most prevalent disability was post-traumatic stress disorder, for which about 42,700 veterans began receiving compensation in 2011.

The VA, which has become the nation’s largest consumer of hearing aids in recent years as policy changes have allowed it to provide devices to nearly every veteran who needs them at little or no cost.  The VA is recognizing that multiple military occupations may result in hearing loss, not just the most obvious.  The advice to veterans is to continue to push for these disabilities even if the VA initial denies the claim.  An excellent article on the problem is in Stars and Stripes.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/veterans-quietly-manage-ear-pain-1.203470

PTSD: Is it Real?

Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

It would be easy to get made about this. But many people feel free to comment that PTSD is not a real condition.  I suspect they mean it’s not an "injury" that you can attribute to a single act or event. It is not a sprained knee or back.  You have to remember that some people believe the following (1) man has never walked on the moon; (2) the earth is flat ; (3)  one's race impacts one's intelligence; (4) global warming does not exist; (5) there is no god  and a variety of other commonly held believes are not true just because. 

So when I hear about the veteran and PTSD haters talk about PTSD, I just lump them in the "it takes all kinds" category.   In 2011, the VA listed the three most common service-connected disabilities among veterans receiving federal compensation that year: tinnitus (ringing in the ears) at 10.9 percent, hearing loss at 7.5 percent, and PTSD at 5.3 percent.   According to the VA the percentage of veterans of World War II and Vietnam who obtained disability compensation is 11 percent and 16 percent, respectively.  

So does that mean PTSD has been faked for the last 70 years?  I don’t think so.  Despite exhaustive scientific studies that have explored the symptoms, causes, diagnoses, and prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, hardcore skeptics remain.  If you want to read about the skeptics see the following blog:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15395330-ptsd-may-be-overdiagnosed-but-ptsd-deniers-are-wrong-psychologists-say?lite

Phoenix 's National Tinnitus Clinic

by Jim Fausone

Tinnitus, commonly known as ringing in the ears, is a major health issue for soldiers returning from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also a major and common disability for those from Vietnam combat. The condition was the most-claimed service-connected disability for veterans receiving compensation in fiscal year 2009-10, according to the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

The audiology clinic at the Phoenix veterans hospital has added staff and extended hours. The hospital will launch a national tinnitus program called Progressive Tinnitus Management to help veterans with the disorder. Audiologists and mental-health professionals will work together to help veterans manage their reaction to tinnitus. The VA has been developing the program for five years using research literature, textbooks and clinical experience. We can only hope that the results are sufficient to roll out the program nationally.

Read more at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/2906270,CST-WS-ears19.article