Citation Nr: 18156632 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/10/18 DOCKET NO. 15-01 465 DATE: December 11, 2018 ORDER A 30 percent rating is granted for service-connected headaches, claimed as migraines. FINDING OF FACT The evidence of record supports a finding that the Veteran’s service-connected headaches are manifest by prostrating attacks at least once per month. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a 30 percent rating for service-connected headaches, claimed as migraines have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. 4.1, 4.3, 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8100 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from June 1983 to June 1987. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2014 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected headaches, claimed as migraines. The Veteran seeks to establish a compensable rating for his service-connected headaches. Disability evaluations are determined by the application of a schedule of ratings, which is in turn based on the average impairment of earning capacity caused by a given disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. § 4.1. Separate diagnostic codes identify the evaluations to be assigned to the various disabilities. If there is a question as to which of two evaluations shall be applied, the higher evaluation will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria required for that rating. Otherwise, the lower rating will be assigned. 38 C.F.R. § 4.7. If different disability ratings are warranted for different periods of time over the life of a claim, “staged” ratings may be assigned. Fenderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 119, 125-26 (1999). The Veteran’s headaches are currently rating under Diagnostic Code (DC) 8100, pertaining to migraines. Under DC 8100, a rating of 10 percent is warranted for migraine headaches with characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in two months over the last several months. A rating of 30 percent is warranted for migraine headaches with characteristic prostrating attacks occurring on an average once a month over the last several months. A rating of 50 percent is warranted for migraine headaches with very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, DC 8100 (2017). The rating criteria do not provide a definition of the term “prostrating.” By way of reference, the Board notes that according to DORLAND’S ILLUSTRATED MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1367 (28th Ed. 1994), “prostration” is defined as “extreme exhaustion or powerlessness;” and according to STEDMAN’S MEDICAL DICTIONARY 1461 (27th Ed. 2000), “prostration” is defined as “a marked loss of strength, as in exhaustion.” The evidence of record supports a finding that an increased rating is warranted. To this end, the Veteran submitted a December 2013 statement which noted that he suffered headaches lasting two to three days, where he was nauseated, sensitive to light and noise, and required him to lie down in a dark room and use a cold towel. This occurred more than fifteen days per month. The Veteran’s wife also submitted a statement noting that his headaches have worsened, to where he typically experienced headaches ten to fifteen days per month, with some more severe headaches lasting two to three days. She further noted that while all of his headaches were not incapacitating, when they are incapacitating or prostrating the Veteran had to lie down in a dark and quiet room and sleep it off. The Veteran underwent VA examination in July 2014, where the examiner acknowledged the Veteran’s headache diagnosis, and stated that the Veteran reported frequent headaches in the military which had only continued to present. The Veteran exhibited symptoms of constant headache pain on both sides of his head without any non-headache symptoms. The examiner specified that typical headache pain lasted less than one day, without evidence of any prostrating attacks, without apparent consideration of any of the previous lay statements. Additionally, the Veteran’s December 2014 substantive appeal reiterated the symptoms which he reported in the 2013 statement, but this time he stated severe headaches lasted one to two days, causing sensitivity to light, nausea, and requiring him to lie down. The Veteran is competent to report pain (i.e. headaches), frequency, and duration, and other alike lay observable symptoms. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465 (1994). The Board has considered his competent reports contained in the claims file. Here, the evidence supports a finding that prostrating attacks occur more than once a month on average. The Veteran and his wife have made competent, credible, and probative statements that his headaches are severe or incapacitating on average of at least once per month lasting multiple days, requiring him to lie down in a dark and quiet space. The evidence is in at least equipoise as to whether the Veteran has experienced prostrating headache attacks. Thus, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that a 30 percent rating is warranted for headaches as the evidence of record establishes that the Veteran experienced frequent prostrating headaches at least once per month over the last several months. Entitlement to a higher 50 percent rating is not warranted, as the evidence of record does not reflect that the Veteran’s headaches are productive of severe economic inadaptability. Specifically, at the Veteran’s VA examination he reported being employed in the control room at a chemical plant and only missing two days this past year due to headaches, as he stated that he just goes, and lives with it. Moreover, the Veteran indicated in his notice of disagreement that he was seeking a 30 percent rating for his headaches. Thus, the Board finds that the full benefit sought on appeal is granted by this decision. DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J.L. Reid, Associate Counsel