If the VA already service-connected your dry eye syndrome (also called dry eye, dry eyes, my eyes are dry, eyes are always dry), it can cause or worsen other conditions that are ratable on their own. These "secondary" claims are where many veterans leave money on the table. Below is what a service-connected dry eye syndrome commonly leads to, why, and what evidence each one takes.
The eye schedule (38 CFR 4.79) has no diagnostic code just for dry eye. Under 38 CFR 4.20, an unlisted condition is rated under a closely related one where the functions affected, the anatomy, and the symptoms are closely analogous. Two codes that cover the tear system and the eye surface are the usual fits:
The tear system. Flat ratings: 10% for one eye, 20% for both.
While active, rated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Eye with a 10% minimum. When inactive, rated on residuals such as visual impairment. The General Rating Formula can go higher on treatment visits:
| General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Eye: incapacitating episodes (38 CFR 4.79) | Rating |
|---|---|
| 7 or more treatment visits for an eye condition in the past 12 months | 60% |
| At least 5 but less than 7 treatment visits | 40% |
| At least 3 but less than 5 treatment visits | 20% |
| At least 1 but less than 3 treatment visits | 10% |
An incapacitating episode is an eye condition severe enough to need a clinic visit specifically for treatment (for example injections, laser, or surgery). VA uses either this table or the visual impairment the condition causes, whichever gives the higher rating.
Which code fits depends on your findings, so the evidence matters: tear testing (Schirmer, tear break-up time), records of surface inflammation, and a count of treatment visits. If the rating decision does not say which analogous code it used and why, that is worth asking about.
Dry eye is often claimed secondary to a service-connected condition or its medication (38 CFR 3.310), for example medicines with drying side effects. You need a diagnosis and a provider opinion. See the nexus letter sample and template, and vision loss.
A secondary claim only works if the primary condition (dry eye syndrome) is already service-connected, and you have a nexus — a doctor's opinion that it is "at least as likely as not" the cause. Nexus letter sample and template →
A chronically dry eye surface stays inflamed and irritated, and that inflammation is what the rating schedule actually has codes for. Be aware that dry eye has no listed code of its own, so it is rated by analogy under 38 CFR 4.20, and which code your rater picks changes what you can be paid.
What you'd need: An eye clinic record documenting the dryness and inflammation, tear film testing such as Schirmer or tear break-up time, and a count of treatment visits, since one of the two candidate codes pays on incapacitating episodes.
Severe, untreated dry eye can scar or roughen the corneal surface and blur vision. This is the less common path and we are flagging it honestly as a lower-likelihood link, not a usual one.
What you'd need: Corrected visual acuity measurements over time and an ophthalmology note attributing the change to corneal surface damage from the dry eye.