Citation Nr: 18150498
Decision Date: 11/15/18	Archive Date: 11/15/18

DOCKET NO. 16-41 505
DATE:	November 15, 2018
ORDER
An initial disability rating in excess of 30 percent for painful scars, including right inguinal hernia repairs scar and bilateral foot/ankle scars, is denied.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran has eight painful scars, including one resulting from two right inguinal hernia repair surgeries and seven on his feet and ankles, that are superficial, tender to palpation, stable, linear, and do not impact function.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for an initial disability rating in excess of 30 percent for painful scars are not met.  38 U.S.C. § 1155 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 4.118, Diagnostic Codes 7801-05 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The record indicates that the Veteran had active service from June 1994 to March 1995.  
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a September 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).    
Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 30 percent for painful scars, including residuals, right inguinal hernia repairs scar and bilateral foot/ankle scars
The Veteran contends that his painful scars warrant an initial disability rating in excess of the 30 percent rating assigned throughout the appeal period.    
Scars not of the head, face, or neck, are evaluated under 38 C.F.R. § 4.118, Diagnostic Codes (DCs) 7801-02, 7804-05.  There is no DC 7803 under the current code.  Under DC 7801, scars, other than of the head, face, or neck, that are deep and nonlinear warrant a 40 percent rating when the scars cover an area or areas exceeding 144 square inches (929 sq. cm.).  A deep scar is described as one associated with underlying soft tissue damage.  See C.F.R. § 4.118, DC 7801, Note 1.  Under DCs 7802 and 7804, ratings in excess of 30 percent are unwarranted.  So, these DCs will not be discussed further.  Under DC 7805, a rating in excess of 30 percent may be warranted where evidence indicates that scar tissue limits function of the part of the body affected.  In sum, a higher rating is warranted here if evidence shows deep and nonlinear scar tissue covering an area or areas exceeding 144 square inches (929 sq. cm.), or if scar tissue limits function.  
The medical evidence indicates that a rating in excess of 30 percent is unwarranted.  The Veteran’s scars, including the one scar on the anterior trunk resulting from the right inguinal hernia repair surgeries and seven scars on the feet and ankles, have not been found to be deep, or to cover a total area of 929 sq. cm.  Rather, the three VA examination reports of record addressing scar tissue – dated in September 2015, December 2016, and August 2017 – indicate superficial scar tissue covering a total area of less than 45 sq. cm.  At no time throughout the appeal has there been any indication of underlying tissue loss involving any of the Veteran’s scars, and the September 2015 VA examiner specifically found no underlying tissue loss.  As such, a higher rating under DC 7801 is not warranted.  
Similarly, a higher rating is not warranted under DC 7805.  There is no evidence of any functional limitation attributable to service-connected scar tissue.  The VA examiners found no limited motion or function due to scar tissue.  Moreover, the Veteran has not reported any functional impact due to the scars themselves.  As such, the Board finds that a rating in excess of 30 percent would not be warranted under DC 7805.  
As the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine does not apply, and the claim must be denied.  38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102.  

 
CHRISTOPHER MCENTEE
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A.B., Counsel