The VA assigns disability ratings for migraines up to 50% based on how often they occur, how long they last, how intense they are, and how much they interfere with your ability to work. If you can prove that your migraines are connected to military service, you may be eligible for VA benefits and potentially unemployability or extra compensation for related disabilities.
Is Your Migraine Recognized by the VA?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes migraines as a serious and often debilitating neurological condition that significantly impacts many veterans’ quality of life. Migraines involve more than just headaches, they are characterized by intense, throbbing head pain (usually on one side of the head) and symptoms such as:
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dizziness or vertigo
- Visual disturbances (flashes of light, blurred or tunnel vision)
If you’re unsure whether your headaches qualify as migraines, VA doctors will evaluate your symptoms and medical history to make a determination. Keep in mind that migraines are often misidentified as sinus or tension headaches by primary care physicians. The VA encourages veterans experiencing symptoms consistent with migraines to undergo evaluation by a neurologist, who can more accurately diagnose the condition.
The VA Ratings for Migraines
Under Diagnostic Code 8100 in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, migraines are assigned a VA disability rating of 0%, 10%, 30% or 50%, depending on the frequency, severity, and impact on daily life and ability to work. To receive a higher rating, migraine headaches must frequently prevent the veteran from working or engaging in other productive activities.
- 50% rating – With very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks producing severe economic inadaptability
- 30% rating – With characteristic prostrating attacks occurring on an average once a month over the last several months
- 10% rating – With characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over the last several months
- 0% rating – With less frequent attacks
What Is a Prostrating Migraine?
The term “prostrating” means that the migraine reduces a person to extreme physical weakness or makes them lie down (which leads to the veteran having a “substantial inability to engage in ordinary activities”). “Completely prostrating” means that the veteran is totally incapacitated for hours or days and needs extended bed rest or even medical attention.
If this is the case, you must let the doctors know not only how frequent the migraines are but how often they are prostrating. If your migraines cause you to stop everything, miss work, cancel plans, or need isolation for hours or days, those episodes likely qualify as prostrating. If the prostrating attacks occur once a month, you may qualify for a 30% rating, while fewer attacks could warrant a 10% rating. Make sure your documentation and statements clearly describe them as “prostrating”, otherwise the rating may be denied.
How to Get VA Disability for Migraines
To file for VA disability benefits, you must have been discharged under honorable conditions (or get a discharge review/upgrade) and have a current diagnosis for a condition that occurred or was aggravated during active duty or during training.
Service Connecting Migraines
The most important step in receiving VA disability is service connection: the legal and medical link between a veteran’s current disability and military service. You must show that your injury, illness, or condition is related to your service in one of the following ways:
- You developed migraines during your military service, and they can be linked to an injury, illness, or exposure sustained while serving
- You had migraines prior to enlistment, and your military service aggravated or worsened them
- Your migraines developed after service, but credible evidence shows they are related to your service
The VA acknowledges that veterans have greater exposure to risk factors that can trigger or exacerbate migraines. These include:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
- Concussions
- Cervical spine (neck) trauma
- Combat-related stress
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Such conditions cause structural or chemical changes in the brain that make individuals more likely to experience recurring migraine episodes. They often result from incidents like:
- Blast exposure from explosives or IEDs
- Repeated exposure to high-decibel noise, such as gunfire, artillery or jet engines
- Toxic exposure to burn pits, chemical solvents or fuel
- Head or neck injuries sustained during training exercises or combat
- Eye strain or eyesight damage from military tasks or injuries
If your migraines began during service or shortly after discharge, submitting medical records or incident reports that document these exposures can help establish the link. These can be obtained upon request – the VA has a duty to assist veterans in retrieving information that will help with disability claims.
For migraines that develop as a secondary condition (caused or aggravated by another disability that is already service-connected, like PTSD, depression or TBI), you will need a statement from a healthcare provider confirming that your migraines are ”at least as likely as not” related to the other condition.
Documenting Your Disability
To support your VA claim for migraines, whether for direct or secondary service connection, submit the following types of documentation:
- Medical diagnosis of migraines from a neurologist or physician
- Military service records showing in-service events or exposures
- Incident or injury reports
- VA or private treatment records, including doctor visits, neurology consults, ER records, medications, and frequency of treatment
- Completed Migraine Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) from your doctor, if available
- Migraine diary tracking every migraine’s date, duration, symptoms, and whether it forced you to rest
- Statements from family, friends, or coworkers describing how migraines affect your daily life
- Employer documentation such as sick leave records, write-ups, or accommodations at work
When a veteran files a disability claim for migraines, the VA typically schedules a Compensation & Pension examination. This is a no-cost medical exam used by the VA to assess the severity of the condition and determine the appropriate disability rating.
Frequently Asked Questions About Migraine Claims
You need three things: (1) a current diagnosis of migraines; (2) evidence of an in-service event, injury, or illness; and (3) a medical nexus linking the two.
A diagnosis from any qualified medical provider can be accepted, but VA often gives more weight to specialists like neurologists.
Because they cannot be seen, migraines are difficult to assess and frequently underrated due to vague medical exams, missing lay evidence, or improper symptom documentation. You can challenge this by submitting additional evidence, including personal statements, buddy letters, and possibly an independent medical opinion or new C&P exam request.
It is important to be as descriptive as possible because the VA is going to rate you based on what is in your records. Of course, the description of your migraines in your medical records is what the doctor wrote down after asking you, but the VA is more comfortable relying on what is printed than what a veteran tells the VA Benefits administration directly. If you are underrated, appealing with stronger evidence often results in a higher rating.
Economic inadaptability means that migraines severely interfere with your ability to earn a living: frequent absences, reduced hours, or job loss due to symptoms.
Submit documentation like sick leave records, work performance evaluations, employer letters, and vocational assessments showing lost productivity or job accommodations.
Yes. The 50% rating requires that migraines cause “severe economic inadaptability,” not total unemployability. You are allowed to work and receive 50% disability for migraines.
You should be eligible for TDIU (Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability), which pays at the 100% rate if your migraines prevent you from keeping a job or earning above the poverty threshold. Hill & Ponton TDIU lawyers may be able to help you, with no upfront costs.
Case Example: From 30% to 50%
In this case, a veteran who served from 1996 to 1999 filed a claim for an increased disability rating due to her service-connected migraine headaches. Initially rated at 30%, the veteran believed that her migraines were more severe than reflected in the assigned rating. After appealing the decision, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals reviewed the evidence and ultimately increased the veteran’s migraine rating to 50%, based on:
- Frequent and Severe Migraine Attacks. The veteran’s private and VA medical records demonstrated that her migraines occurred frequently (up to 20 times per month) and were severe enough to require emergency treatment, including intramuscular injections. The frequency and intensity of her migraines significantly impacted her ability to work, as she was forced to miss multiple days of employment.
- Impact on Employment. The veteran testified that her migraines made it impossible for her to maintain consistent employment. During a VA examination, it was noted that her flexibility and adaptability in a work environment were severely impaired due to her migraines. This contributed to the determination that her migraines were productive of severe economic inadaptability, a key requirement for the 50% rating.
- The Prostrating Nature of the Migraines. The veteran’s migraines were documented as completely prostrating, meaning she had to lie down in a dark, quiet room to recover. Her migraines caused nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and noise, and incapacitation for several days at a time, aligning with VA’s criteria for a higher rating.
- Consistent Medical Documentation and Testimony. The veteran’s medical records, personal testimony, and statements from healthcare providers all aligned to paint a clear picture of the severity of her condition. She documented the impact of her migraines on her daily life, including how they interfered with her ability to care for her children and engage in everyday activities.
Going Beyond the 50% Rating
Even if you receive the maximum migraine VA rating of 50%, there may be opportunities to increase your overall compensation through secondary conditions or Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
Secondary Conditions
Chronic pain and the disabling nature of migraines can lead to or worsen mental health conditions like generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder. Veterans often report emotional distress, social withdrawal, or hopelessness caused by the unpredictability or severity of migraines. Migraines can also interfere with sleep patterns, causing insomnia, sleep disruption, or poor sleep quality.
These disabilities receive their own separate VA ratings if diagnosed and supported by medical records and a nexus opinion stating that the secondary condition is “at least as likely as not” caused or aggravated by service-connected migraines. Additionally, a veteran rated at 50% for migraines may qualify for VA unemployability compensation if migraines prevent them from making a living, even if they hold occasional jobs.
TDIU for Migraines
Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) is a special VA benefit that allows veterans to receive compensation at the 100% disability rate even if their standard rating is below 100%, so long as their service-connected conditions prevent them from maintaining substantially gainful employment (defined as work that earns more than a poverty-level wage and is consistent with the veteran’s background).
Schedular Individual Unemployability
According to VA regulations, schedular Individual Unemployability is available when you have either 1) a service-connected disability rated at 60% or more, or 2) a combined rating of 70% with one disability rated at least 40%. While migraines are rated at a maximum of 50%, many veterans also have service-connected conditions like PTSD or TBI, which combined with the migraine rating can satisfy the VA requirements.
Extraschedular Individual Unemployability
When you don’t meet the schedular rating thresholds, but your migraines are so severe that you are essentially unemployable, you can still qualify for extraschedular IU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b)), if the evidence supports it.
Attorney Matthew Hill’s Advice to Veterans
The maximum rating for migraines is 50%. VA set up its rating schedule to match the severity of a disability with how much the disability impairs a veteran’s ability to work. The higher the rating the more the disability interferes with the veteran’s ability to work.
By offering a 50% rating as the highest rating for migraines, the VA is implicitly stating that migraines cannot completely impair one’s ability to work. But I have represented multiple veterans who have weekly prostrating migraines. These veterans have to retreat to a dark room and cannot do any work for the whole day.
When I asked a vocational expert about what it means for a person to miss one to two days a week of work, the expert told me that, effectively, this person is unemployable because no standard work setting would allow a person to miss that much work. So, if you have migraines and as a result cannot work, a 50% rating is not an adequate rating for you. You must insist that the VA rate you totally disabled due to extraschedular individual unemployability.
Typically, IU ratings are reserved for individuals who are rated at least 70% and have demonstrated to the VA that they cannot work. Once again, a 70% rating is not a possible rating for someone battling migraines. The VA’s own regulations state that the VA must consider an IU rating if the veteran has shown that they cannot work due to a VA service-connected disability.
In these cases, I seek the opinion of vocational experts. These experts can look at the time lost and the functional loss resulting from migraines and then show how the migraines prevent the veteran from working. With a vocational expert report, I force the VA to consider whether the migraines cause individual unemployability. Remember, if your service-connected disability prevents you from working, then the VA should compensate you at the maximum rating.
Underrated? We Can Help
If your VA disability claim for migraines has been denied or you feel your rating is too low, you can appeal the decision. Get a free evaluation here – we specialize in VA appeals and will point you in the right direction even if we don’t take your case.
Content Reviewed by
Brenda Duplantis
Brenda Duplantis is a Accredited Claims Agent with a solid background in Social Security Disability Law and Veterans Law. She has been helping clients at Hill & Ponton with disability claims since 1991. Brenda is a member of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates.
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