Body system: Muscle InjuriesRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.73
This diagnostic code covers injuries to the muscles in the front of your neck that control head movement, breathing, and swallowing. These include major muscles like the trapezius, sternocleidomastoid (the big muscle that runs from behind your ear to your collarbone), and the smaller muscles around your voice box and throat. The VA rates these injuries from 0% to 30% based on how severely the muscle damage affects your ability to move your head, breathe normally, and swallow.
Rating levels
- 30% — You have severe damage to the muscles in the front and sides of your neck that control turning and moving your head forward, breathing, and swallowing. This level of injury significantly limits your ability to rotate your head side to side, tilt it forward, breathe normally, or swallow food and liquids without difficulty. The affected muscles include those that connect your collarbone to your skull, the prominent neck muscles you can feel on both sides, and the smaller muscles around your throat and voice box area.
- 20% — You have moderately severe damage to the muscles in the front and sides of your neck that control turning and moving your head forward, breathing, and swallowing. This includes injuries to muscles like the trapezius (the large muscle that runs from your neck to your shoulder), the sternocleidomastoid (the rope-like muscle on each side of your neck), and the smaller muscles around your throat and voice box area. Your neck movement is significantly limited, and you may have noticeable difficulty with breathing or swallowing, but these functions aren't completely impaired.
- 10% — You have moderate damage or weakness in the muscles at the front of your neck that control head movement, breathing, and swallowing. This includes muscles like the sternocleidomastoid (the large muscle that runs from behind your ear to your collarbone) and the smaller muscles around your throat and voice box. You experience noticeable difficulty or pain when turning your head, tilting it forward, breathing deeply, or swallowing, but these functions still work to a reasonable degree.
- 0% — You have minor muscle damage or weakness in your neck muscles that control head rotation, tilting your head forward and back, breathing, and swallowing. The injury causes only slight symptoms that barely interfere with your daily activities - you might notice some minor stiffness, occasional discomfort, or very mild weakness when turning your head or swallowing, but these problems don't significantly limit what you can do.