Back Pain Claim Help

[Deleted member 101027]

Hello!


I am seeking advice on the submission for a VAC claim regarding chronic back pain.

I have begun my claim process with VAC. My family doctor, who is ex-military, told me that because I do not have a CF 98, have no glaring problems showing on my x-rays, or that I can not pin-point a single incident for the pain, that it is likely that the claim will be denied. He gave me a diagnosis for the pain, so it isn't an "all in his head" kinda pain thing.

During my time in, I served for 8 years as a combat engineer. I joined when I was 18, I'm 28 now with the back of a 60+ year old man. I released approx. 18 months ago, in that time I've been a full time student, without any other employment. 

I ordered and looked through all 300+ pages of my medical file. There are notes in there about me going to the MIR and complaining about back pain; however, I was only put on the SFIT (Spinal Functional Integrated Training) program and released before I could complete the entire program.

My question is, what can I do to strengthen my claim? I have begun collecting witness statements from the people I served with, having them detail some of the physical trails we endured while deployed on tour, or on exercise, but I don't think that will be enough.

Any recommendations are appreciated. I'm not even sure I'm posting in the right forum.


Thanks in advance!

 

[PMedMoe]

I did not have a CF98, however I was able to pinpoint an incident.  I had several referrals to specialists but not sure if I had a definitive diagnosis or not.  The VAC questionnaire, coupled with my medical docs resulted in me getting a 5% disability award on my first (and only) claim.

Now, I don't have the back of a 60 year old, nor does my issue preclude me from work but I was able to say it was CF related (the initial incident plus work/PT activities afterwards).

Put the claim in with as much supporting info as possible.  It can't hurt.  Good luck.

 

[blackberet17]

While you may not have a single traumatic incident to point to, repetitive injuries, or cumulative joint trauma, to the lumbar spine, may be what you need to list. You will want to combine the entries from the MIR in your service health records with a list of incidents (no matter how minor) from your own recollection. Be as clear and concise as possible as to what happened, when, where, what you were doing at the time, and the after-effects, such as time off, taking any over-the-counter pain meds, etc.

 

[Deleted member 101027]

Thanks for the quick responses.

I took all the advice given and have begun to apply it to my supporting documents.

I'll keep this post updated so that others may be able to use this information in the future.

 

[Deleted member 101027]

UPDATE: 10-Jan-17

I just found out that my back and neck claim were both approved for "Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain" and "Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain". I was awarded 5% for each claim.

Feel free to message me any questions you may have about similar claims.

 

[Deleted member 101027]

UPDATE: 10-Jan-17

I just found out that my back and neck claim were both approved for "Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain" and "Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain". I was awarded 5% for each claim.

Feel free to message me any questions you may have about similar claims.