What’s your situation?
- VA denied my claim: What to check after a denial
- I'm claiming this condition for the first time: How to file a VA claim for tinnitus
- I have a claim exam coming up: C&P exam preparation
Tinnitus VA rating: a single 10%
| Rating | Criteria — Diagnostic Code 6260, Tinnitus | In plain language | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | Tinnitus, recurrent | Recurrent tinnitus — ringing or another sound that comes back — in one ear, both ears, or in the head. One 10% evaluation is the whole scale. | Note (2) allows a single evaluation however the sound is perceived; there is no higher tinnitus percentage under this code. |
Notes from the regulation:
- Note (1): A separate evaluation for tinnitus may be combined with an evaluation under diagnostic codes 6100, 6200, 6204, or other diagnostic code, except when tinnitus is used in support of an evaluation under any of those diagnostic codes.
- Note (2): Assign only a single evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head.
- Note (3): Objective tinnitus (in which the sound is audible to other people and has some identifiable cause that may be resolved by surgery or other treatment) is not evaluated under DC 6260, but rather as part of the underlying condition from which it results.
Why the percentage cannot go up
DC 6260's schedule has one line. Filing for an increase and showing worse ringing, louder ringing, or ringing in both ears still meets the same line, because Note (2) fixes a single evaluation however the sound is perceived. An increase claim framed on tinnitus severity alone invites a denial that helps nothing — the productive checks are the ones below.
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.
- How to file a VA claim for tinnitus
What to file for tinnitus under DC 6260: the claim itself, the noise-exposure and continuity evidence that carries service connection, and the audiology exam.
- 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.
What to check instead
Four checks cover most genuinely under-rated tinnitus files.
- A missing separate evaluation: Note (1) allows tinnitus to be evaluated separately from hearing loss and other ear conditions, except when tinnitus supported the evaluation under one of those codes. If your decision folded tinnitus away without that reasoning, the separate 10% may still be owed.
- Worsening hearing loss: hearing impairment has its own schedule and its own percentage steps. New audiometric testing showing worse hearing supports an increase for the hearing loss itself.
- Meniere's syndrome (DC 6205): VA evaluates Meniere's either under its own criteria or by separately evaluating vertigo, hearing impairment, and tinnitus — whichever method results in the higher overall evaluation. If your symptoms include vertigo attacks with gait disturbance, ask which method your decision used.
- New related conditions: conditions that have developed or worsened alongside the tinnitus — including residuals of a traumatic brain injury — carry their own evaluations.
If the decision got the notes wrong
A denial or a missing evaluation that misapplies Note (1) or Note (2) is a decision error, and the fix is the appeal lane rather than a fresh increase claim: a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence, or a Higher-Level Review pointing at the note the rater misread. Our denied-claim guide walks through both lanes and their deadlines.
Under-rating check worksheet
Before filing anything, run these checks against your current decision. Each one identifies a change that can actually move the combined rating, unlike an increase claim aimed at the tinnitus percentage itself.