Foot Conditions Claims Guide
Years of marching, running, and load-bearing leave a lot of veterans with foot problems: bunions, hammertoes, ball-of-foot pain, and old foot injuries that never fully healed. The VA rates these under the musculoskeletal schedule, and there is a catch worth knowing up front: most named foot deformities cap at 10 percent, but a foot with real functional loss can be rated higher under the injury codes. This guide covers bunions, hammertoe, metatarsalgia, and other foot injuries, and how to reach the rating your foot actually earns.
What This Guide Covers
This guide covers the common forefoot and foot-injury conditions rated under 38 CFR § 4.71a:
- Bunions (hallux valgus): DC 5280.
- Hammertoe: DC 5282.
- Metatarsalgia / Morton's neuroma: DC 5279.
- Hallux rigidus (stiff big toe): DC 5281.
- Malunion of the foot bones: DC 5283.
- Other foot injuries (the catch-all): DC 5284.
Flatfoot and plantar fasciitis are rated on their own scales, covered in the flatfoot guide and the joint motion guide.
How They Get Service Connected
- Direct. A foot condition that began or worsened in service from the marching, running, boots, and load-bearing of military duty, with a current diagnosis and a link to service.
- Secondary. A foot condition caused or worsened by another service-connected condition that changes your gait, an ankle, knee, hip, or back problem, or one foot overloading the other. See secondary conditions.
Across published DC 5284 decisions, here is how often the Board granted by the legal theory the claim was argued on:
Common Secondary Conditions
Foot problems change how force travels up the leg, so they sit in a chain with the ankle, knee, hip, and back. Each bar below is the Board's grant rate for DC 5284 in that pairing, with the number of decisions under it. They describe the published record across many veterans, not a prediction about any one claim.
Conditions that can cause a foot condition (as the secondary)
Claims where the foot condition was argued as secondary to an already service-connected condition:
Conditions a foot condition can cause (as the primary)
Conditions veterans have claimed as caused or aggravated by a service-connected foot condition and its altered gait:
Ratings by Foot Code
| Code | Condition | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 5280 | Bunion (hallux valgus) | 10% if operated with metatarsal-head resection, or severe (equal to amputation of the great toe); otherwise 0% |
| 5281 | Hallux rigidus (stiff big toe), severe | 10% (rated as severe bunion) |
| 5282 | Hammer toe | 10% if all toes of one foot without claw foot; single toe 0% |
| 5279 | Metatarsalgia / Morton's neuroma | 10% (one or both feet) |
| 5283 | Malunion of the tarsal or metatarsal bones | 10% moderate, 20% moderately severe, 30% severe (40% with actual loss of use) |
| 5284 | Other foot injuries | 10% moderate, 20% moderately severe, 30% severe (40% with actual loss of use) |
- What the VA measures at your C&P exam
- Evidence that has won at the Board
- Inside the rater's playbook: grant, denial, and remand rates
- Secondary condition map
Evidence That Wins
- An exam documenting the functional loss, not just the deformity: pain on use, altered gait, difficulty standing and walking, and whether it is moderate, moderately severe, or severe.
- X-rays and operative records showing the deformity, any surgery, bone malunion, or hardware.
- Whether it affects one foot or both, so each foot is rated and the bilateral factor is applied.
- A nexus opinion for direct or secondary claims, linking the foot condition to service or to a service-connected gait problem. See nexus letters.
- The Foot Conditions DBQ, which records the severity the rating turns on. See the DBQ guide.
Common Mistakes
The same handful of missteps account for most lost or under-rated foot claims. Among the Board's classified service-connection denials for foot injuries, here is what claims most often fell short on:
- Accepting a 10 percent ceiling on a badly damaged foot. If the foot has real functional loss, the injury codes reach 20, 30, even 40 percent. Make sure it is rated under the code that captures the whole disability.
- Describing the deformity but not the disability. The higher ratings turn on functional loss, pain on use, altered gait, and difficulty walking, so the exam needs to record those.
- Claiming one foot when both hurt. Each foot is rated on its own, and both together can pick up the bilateral factor.
- Missing the secondary gait chain. A foot condition can be secondary to an ankle, knee, hip, or back problem, and can itself service-connect those. Do not leave that path unclaimed.
- No X-rays or surgical records. The objective findings that support the rating, deformity, malunion, hardware, are on imaging and operative notes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most a bunion can be rated?
How do I get more than 10 percent for a foot condition?
Can I get a rating for both feet?
Is my flatfoot covered here?
Can a foot condition connect to my knee or back?
Related Tools and Guides
Sources: 38 CFR 4.71a, musculoskeletal ratings · CCK Law, foot conditions · Hill & Ponton, foot pain. Educational only, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any individual claim. Rating criteria change; confirm current details in 38 CFR 4.71a. For help with your claim, find a VA-accredited representative.