Citation Nr: 18115263
Decision Date: 06/29/18	Archive Date: 06/29/18

DOCKET NO. 14-24 718A
DATE:	June 29, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for a lumbar spine disorder is denied.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran does not have a current lumbar spine disorder.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5103, 5103A, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.326(a) (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served in the U.S. Air Force from June 2004 to June 2010.
Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder.
Service connection may be granted for current disability arising from disease or injury incurred or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Service connection generally requires (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
The Veteran contends he has had low back pain since a 2009 deployment to Cyprus. An October 2009 post-deployment health assessment contains no mention of low back complaints, however. A March 2010 service treatment record (STR) indicates that the Veteran had a history of low back pain when he was deployed in 2009 but that it had resolved.
In August 2010, the Veteran was afforded a VA examination. He denied that he had arthritis and gout. His low back was normal on examination with no pain, weakness, guarding, instability, or abnormal curvature, and range of motion testing was normal. An X-ray study was also normal with no evidence of degenerative disc disease or degenerative joint disease. 
In April 2012, the Veteran underwent another lumbar spine X-ray study which was also normal. On his May 2012 notice of disagreement (NOD), the Veteran reported low back pain in the mornings and after prolonged standing. In a February 2014 statement, the Veteran wrote that he has had back pain since his deployment in 2009.
There is no evidence that the Veteran has a current lumbar spine disorder. A March 2010 STR indicated that low back complaints had resolved. At the August 2010 VA examination, the Veteran’s low back was normal. August 2010 and April 2012 X-ray studies were also normal. Although the Veteran has reported pain in his low back, pain can only constitute a disability where it results in functional impairment. See Saunders v. Wilkie, No. 2017-1466, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 8467 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 3, 2018). At the Veteran’s August 2010 VA examination, there was no indication of any functional impairment, as the Veteran had no pain, no weakness, no guarding, no instability, no limitation of motion, and no abnormal curvature of the spine. Without evidence of functional impairment, pain alone cannot constitute a disability for which service connection may be granted. See id. Therefore, service connection is not warranted and the claim is denied.
 
Vito A. Clementi
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J. E. Miller, Associate Counsel