VA math → how VA rates migraines
How VA rates migraines
VA rates migraine under diagnostic code 8100 in the neurological schedule, at 0, 10, 30, or 50 percent. The rating turns on how often you have "prostrating" attacks (attacks severe enough to stop you from functioning) and how much they affect your ability to work. Fifty percent is the highest level diagnostic code 8100 provides.
What the rating schedule says
How the regulation is applied
What "prostrating" means here
The schedule keys the higher levels to "prostrating" attacks, meaning attacks severe enough that you have to stop what you are doing. Frequency over the last several months is what separates the 10, 30, and 50 percent levels (38 CFR 4.124a, DC 8100).
Fifty percent is the ceiling for the code
Diagnostic code 8100 has no level above 50 percent, so 50 percent is the most migraine itself is evaluated at under this code (38 CFR 4.124a).
How this combines with your other ratings
VA does not add your ratings together, it combines them by remaining efficiency, so any single rating rarely changes your combined number as much as simple addition would suggest. See how VA combines ratings, or use the combined-rating calculator.
Related terms
This explains what the rating schedule says. It is educational, not claims assistance: only a VA-accredited representative may help with the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a claim (38 CFR 14.629). We do not advise how to obtain or increase a rating, and we determine nothing about any specific claim.