Citation Nr: 21076400 Decision Date: 12/23/21 Archive Date: 12/23/21 DOCKET NO. 18-00 097A DATE: December 23, 2021 REMANDED The claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. The claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus is remanded. The claim for service connection for a left foot condition is remanded. The claim for service connection for a left ankle condition is remanded. The claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from March 1986 to June 1986 and from October 2001 to May 2002. He also served in the U. S. Army Reserve from November 1985 to May 2009 with various periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA). During the course of the Veteran's Board hearing in July 2021, the Veteran's therapist indicated that they had a lot of records for the Veteran at the Kansas Soldier's Home. These should be obtained. The Veteran provided a statement dated February 2016 stating that he suffered a left foot /ankle injury during Phase II MP training in August 1996, that he was running at night and fell and rolled down a hill. He stated that went to a medical facility at Fort Riley, where x-rays were reportedly taken. The Veteran's ex-wife submitted service treatment records (STRs) in August 2016 showing that the Veteran had been treated for blisters on his feet in April 1986, that he twisted his ankle during an Army physical fitness test in April 1996 and that he was noted to have foot pain and to be wearing orthotics at a medical examination in November 1998. His ex-wife also submitted private records from Comcare Comprehensive Family Health Care/Salina Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Clinic showing that the Veteran had a left ankle injury in July 1997 when he was running on a hill and fell after the left ankle gave away, and that he was diagnosed with chronic ankle pain in January 1998 and left lateral malleolus pain possibly second to occult fracture in February 1998. At his Board's hearing in July 2021, the Veteran was in a wheelchair and testified that he still had pain on the back of his left foot/left ankle. Accordingly, further development is necessary to obtain additional medical records and to determine the current diagnoses and etiology of the Veteran's left ankle and left foot conditions. Therefore, the matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain VA treatment records from March 2018 to the present. 2. Obtain any outstanding records from the Kansas Soldiers Home. 3. Then provide a medical examination of the Veteran's left ankle. The examiner should answer the following: (a) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran has a left ankle disability, to include pain causing functional limitation? Why or why not? (b) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the left ankle disability is the result of the ankle sprain he experienced in service? Why or why not? MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Q. Wang, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.