WingmanOpen the free toolsWingmanOpen the free toolsIf the VA already service-connected your varicose veins (also called varicose veins, varicose vein, varicosities, varicosity), 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 varicose veins commonly leads to, why, and what evidence each one takes.
A secondary claim only works if the primary condition (varicose veins) is already service-connected, and you have a nexus — a doctor's opinion that it is "at least as likely as not" the cause. More on nexus letters →
This is the most important thing to know about a varicose vein claim: since the November 2021 rating schedule update, DC 7120 does not carry its own criteria. It tells the rater to evaluate varicose veins under DC 7121, the post-phlebitic syndrome criteria. Those criteria climb with persistent edema, stasis pigmentation or eczema, and then with persistent or massive ulceration. So skin changes and ulcers are not a separate second claim, they are the evidence that raises this one, and 38 CFR 4.14 bars rating the same findings twice.
What you'd need: Photographs and wound-care notes for any ulcer, records showing whether elevation or compression relieves the swelling, vascular studies, and how long each ulcer stayed open.
Sluggish venous return is a recognized risk factor for clots in the deep veins, and the residuals left behind after a DVT are evaluated on the same post-phlebitic criteria. A documented DVT history also changes how seriously the leg findings are read.
What you'd need: Venous duplex ultrasound reports, hospital or urgent care records for the clot, anticoagulant prescriptions, and follow-up vascular notes.
Legs that ache all day, and wounds that take months to close and have to stay wrapped, limit what you can do and how you are willing to be seen. That is a recognized secondary mental health path, the same as for any chronic painful condition.
What you'd need: A mental health diagnosis and a provider opinion connecting the mood symptoms to the leg condition.