What’s your situation?
- VA denied my claim: What to check after a denial
- My current rating no longer fits: Tinnitus rating increase: what can actually change
- I have a claim exam coming up: C&P exam preparation
Deadline: An Intent to File can protect your potential effective date for 1 year — file it before you gather evidence Prepare an intent to file.
What to file
Claim tinnitus expressly — do not assume a hearing-loss claim covers it, because the two are evaluated under different codes. In the claim, name the exposure: your occupational specialty, the weapons, aircraft, vehicles, or machinery involved, and any specific acoustic trauma you remember. Note the Intent to File deadline on this page — an ITF holds your potential effective date for a year while you gather records.
In this series: Tinnitus VA rating
- Tinnitus VA rating criteria: the DC 6260 notes
The full text of Diagnostic Code 6260 — recurrent tinnitus at 10% — and the three regulatory notes that decide how the evaluation combines with other ear ratings.
- Tinnitus rating increase: what can actually change
There is no tinnitus evaluation above 10% under DC 6260. What can change: a missing separate evaluation, a Meniere's evaluation, and the ratings of the conditions around the tinnitus.
- Tinnitus after a TBI: rating it as its own residual
DC 8045 directs that hearing loss and tinnitus after a traumatic brain injury be evaluated under their own diagnostic codes — what that means for a tinnitus claim alongside TBI residuals.
The evidence that carries it
Service treatment records and hearing tests from service are the strongest start, but many tinnitus claims rest on the exposure history plus continuity: a personal statement describing when the ringing began and that it never stopped, treatment or audiology records after service showing the same complaint, and statements from people who served with you or have known you since. If the tinnitus began after service, the claim needs a medical opinion linking it to the in-service exposure or to a service-connected condition — that is the secondary path, and it is a standard one for tinnitus.
The audiology exam
VA typically schedules an audiology C&P exam. The examiner tests hearing, asks about the tinnitus — when it started, how often it recurs, whether it is in one ear, both, or in the head — and may give an opinion on whether it is connected to service. Answer the onset questions carefully and consistently with your statement; the exam report's onset history is often what the rater quotes. Our C&P exam guide covers how to prepare for the appointment itself.
Tinnitus filing checklist
Assemble these pieces before or alongside the claim itself. The claim names the condition and the exposure; the evidence below is what connects them.