Skin Diseases

Skin diseases can be disfiguring and disruptive to one’s daily life. Over the years we have represented veterans with a wide-range of skin problems. These include acne, Leishmaniasis, eczema, dermatitis, scars, psoriasis, skin cancer, uticaria, vasculitis, stasis dermatitis, Leichen Simplex Chronicus, tinea pedis, or chloracne, as well various skin and nail fungus disorders. In general, the same rules apply in service-connecting a skin disability. For chloracne, the presumptive rules for Agent Orange apply.

The difficulty for many skin disability cases is that the conditions often fluctuate. When the VA examines you, the skin condition may be in remission, giving the false impression that the condition has gone away. Fortunately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has ruled that skin disabilities that have periods of exacerbation and remission should be evaluated during a period or active flare-up so as to assess the true nature of the disability. In addition, the VA typically rates many skin problems based on how disfiguring they are, i.e. how many scars or impaired facial features, etc. Or, the VA will rate the disease based on the amount of exposed areas that are affected. Regardless, a thorough evaluation during a period of active disease is crucial to evaluating skin diseases. If you have a serious skin disease that makes it impossible for you to work, then you are invited to contact our veterans disability lawyers to discuss if we can help.