Veterans ask which conditions are claimed most. The useful question is different. What diagnosis is in the file, and which rating schedule does that diagnosis open? A claim that says “ears,” “back,” or “sleep” without a current diagnosis is a claim the rater cannot rate under 38 C.F.R. Part 4. Popular is not the same as proven. This post covers the conditions that show up again and again in disability files — tinnitus, hearing loss, PTSD, musculoskeletal injuries, sleep apnea, migraines, and PACT Act presumptions — and why the name of the condition still decides the percentage.

VA does not publish, on the pages re-opened for this post, an official ranking or prevalence percentage of the most-filed disabilities. This post does not invent those percentages. It uses VA's own eligibility, evidence, and PACT Act pages, and it points to this firm's existing condition pages where a veteran already looking at tinnitus, sleep apnea, PTSD, toxic exposure, or secondary claims can keep reading. Those pages do not decide any file.

Why the diagnosis is the rating

VA's eligibility page says you may be eligible if you have a current illness or injury that affects your mind or body, plus qualifying service, and at least one connecting theory: the condition started in service, a condition you already had got worse because of service, or a condition related to service showed up after you left. The word that does the work is “condition.” A symptom is not a diagnostic code.

38 C.F.R. § 4.1 says the rating schedule is a guide to evaluate disability from diseases and injuries, and that percentage ratings represent average impairment in earning capacity. Accurate and fully descriptive medical examinations are required. The schedule is organized by diagnosis. Tinnitus has a code. Hearing loss has a different code and a different test. A lumbar strain, a herniated disc, and radiculopathy are not one line on the decision. Sleep apnea is rated under the respiratory schedule, not under “I am tired.” PTSD is rated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders, not under “I have bad dreams.”

That is why a claim that lists every ache and never produces a current diagnosis often ends in a denial or a 0% that cannot be increased until someone writes the actual condition. The practical mistake is treating a common claim as a common grant. Frequency of filing is not evidence in your file.

Tinnitus and hearing loss

VA's eligibility page lists severe hearing loss among conditions that may be covered. Tinnitus is the ringing, buzzing, or hissing that often travels with noise exposure. They are claimed together because service is loud. They are rated separately because the schedule treats them separately.

Hearing loss is not “I cannot hear in restaurants.” It is an audiometric result that meets the schedule. Tinnitus is not “I was around jets.” It is a current diagnosis of tinnitus, an in-service event or noise exposure or a presumption that applies, and a medical link unless a presumption does that job. A buddy who remembers the flight line can describe the noise. The buddy cannot write the audiogram.

This firm already maintains a tinnitus rating page at https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-tinnitus-rating-dc-6260-2026. Read that page for the diagnostic code and the current schedule language. It does not decide whether your tinnitus claim will be granted.

The money mistake on ear claims is filing “hearing” as one issue and never sending an audiogram, or assuming tinnitus will carry hearing loss. If both are present, claim both. If only one is diagnosed, claim the one that exists.

PTSD and other mental health conditions

VA's eligibility page lists anxiety, depression, mental or physical conditions related to military sexual trauma, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. VA's evidence page says that for PTSD and other mental health conditions you also need a completed Statement in Support of Claimed Mental Health Disorder(s) Due to an In-Service Traumatic Event(s), VA Form 21-0781.

Service connection for PTSD still needs a current diagnosis, a stressor, and a link. The diagnosis has to be a mental disorder the schedule recognizes. “I have PTSD” on a claim form is not the diagnosis. A clinician's diagnosis is. The rating then follows how the condition actually impairs occupational and social function, not how dramatic the stressor was.

MST claims are still disability claims. VA's evidence page points to additional MST evidence rules. You do not need a police report to file. You do need a current condition and evidence that can corroborate the event under the rules that apply to MST.

This firm's PTSD rating page is https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-ptsd-rating-38-cfr-4-130-dc-9411-2026. Use it to read 38 C.F.R. § 4.130, Diagnostic Code 9411, as of that page. It is not a promise of any percentage on your decision.

The practical mistake is claiming “PTSD” when the treating notes say adjustment disorder or unspecified trauma-related symptoms, then being surprised when the exam diagnoses something else and the rater rates that diagnosis. Claim the symptoms you have. Send the records that name them. If the examiner uses a different diagnosis, that diagnosis is what the schedule will see.

Musculoskeletal conditions

VA's eligibility examples include chronic back pain resulting in a current diagnosed back disability, and loss of range of motion. Pain alone is not the rating. The diagnosis — lumbar strain, degenerative disc disease, cervical radiculopathy, knee instability, shoulder limitation — is what the orthopedic schedule measures. Range of motion, flare-ups, and functional loss are how the percentage is built after the diagnosis is in the file.

Secondary claims often start here. VA's when-to-file page gives the example of arthritis caused by a service-connected knee injury. A back that changes how you walk can raise hip, knee, or mental-health issues. Those are separate claims. They need their own current diagnosis and a link to the already-service-connected condition. This firm's secondary-conditions page is https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/secondary-conditions. That page explains the theory. It does not add a condition to your rating decision.

The money mistake is claiming “back” and leaving radiculopathy, the opposite knee, and depression off the form. A rater can grant what is claimed and reasonably raised. A rater is not required to invent a sciatica code you never named and never documented.

Sleep apnea and migraines

Sleep apnea is claimed often because it is diagnosed often after service. The rating still turns on a current diagnosis, usually with a sleep study, and on a service event, a presumption, or a secondary link — for example, to a service-connected respiratory condition, to weight gain tied to a service-connected condition, or to another already-rated disability a clinician can explain. “I snore” is not a diagnosis. A CPAP prescription without a diagnosis in the file is a weak file.

This firm's sleep apnea rating page is https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-sleep-apnea-rating-38-cfr-4-97-dc-6847-hr-9237. Read it for Diagnostic Code 6847 and the statute that page discusses. It does not decide your apnea claim.

Migraines are rated on frequency and economic inadaptability under the neurologic schedule, not on the word “headaches.” A current diagnosis of migraine (or the headache condition you actually have), treatment notes that record how often attacks happen, and how they stop work are what move the percentage. A one-line “veteran gets headaches” note does not.

The practical mistake on both conditions is filing because a friend was granted the same diagnosis. Your friend's file is not your evidence. Your sleep study and your headache log are.

PACT Act presumptions: the diagnosis still has to exist

The PACT Act expanded presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures. VA's PACT Act page, last updated June 2, 2026, is the list this post uses. If you have a presumptive condition and you meet the service requirements, you do not need to prove that service caused the condition. You still need medical evidence of the diagnosis and its severity, and military records that show you meet the location and time rules.

For Gulf War era and post-9/11 veterans, VA lists these cancers as now presumptive: brain cancer, gastrointestinal cancer of any type, glioblastoma, head cancer of any type, kidney cancer, lymphoma of any type, melanoma, neck cancer of any type, pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer of any type, and respiratory cancer of any type. It lists these illnesses as now presumptive: asthma diagnosed after service, chronic bronchitis, COPD, chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, constrictive or obliterative bronchiolitis, emphysema, granulomatous disease, interstitial lung disease, pleuritis, pulmonary fibrosis, and sarcoidosis.

Presumption of exposure, on that page, applies if you served on or after September 11, 2001, in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan, Yemen, or the airspace above those locations, or on or after August 2, 1990, in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, or the airspace above those locations.

For Vietnam-era veterans, the PACT Act added hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) as Agent Orange presumptive conditions, plus added locations. That is VA's list. It is not a shortcut around a current diagnosis. A rhinitis claim still needs a rhinitis diagnosis. A hypertension claim still needs hypertension in the medical record.

If VA denied the same condition before it became presumptive, the path is a Supplemental Claim based on a change in law, not a new original claim that pretends the old decision does not exist. This firm's PACT Act page is https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/pact-act. Use it for the firm's explanation of the statute. The official condition list is the VA page cited below.

What to do with a “common” condition

Name the diagnosis you have, not the slogan you heard. Send the study, the imaging, the mental-health note, or the toxic-exposure service dates that match that diagnosis. If the condition is secondary, name the already-service-connected disability and get a clinician to explain the link. This firm does not sell nexus letters and does not pay for them. If you obtain one, it is your cost.

If you are claiming tinnitus, read the tinnitus page. If you are claiming sleep apnea, read the apnea page. If you are claiming PTSD, read the § 4.130 page. If you are claiming a PACT Act condition, read VA's list and the firm's PACT Act page. Then file the condition you actually have. Completing a website form is not representation.

Disclaimer

This post is general information about veterans disability claims, appeals, and VA benefits. It is not legal advice, not a representation that The Jacks Law Group is your counsel, and not a prediction of any rating, grant, denial, effective date, or payment. No result is promised. Reading this post, starting a VA.gov form, or completing the firm's website form does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, regulations, and VA procedures change. The sources below were re-opened on August 23, 2026, and should be re-checked before they are relied on.

Retain this firm

If you have a VA disability claim to file, a claim that is stuck, or a decision you intend to review, The Jacks Law Group represents veterans in disability claims and appeals. Call 702-834-6300. Completing a website form is not representation.

The Jacks Law Group
1057 Whitney Ranch Drive, Suite 350
Henderson, NV 89014
702-834-6300
https://www.TheJacksLawGroup.com

Sources (re-opened August 23, 2026)

VA, Eligibility for VA disability benefits, https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/ — last updated April 23, 2025. Current condition plus qualifying service; examples including hearing loss, back disability, PTSD, MST, TBI.

VA, Evidence needed for your disability claim, https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/evidence-needed/ — last updated June 8, 2026. Three-element original claim; secondary-claim evidence; VA Form 21-0781 for PTSD and other mental health conditions; presumptive evidence is diagnosis plus service requirements.

VA, The PACT Act and your VA benefits, https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/ — last updated June 2, 2026. Presumptive cancer and illness lists; exposure locations and dates; hypertension and MGUS; Supplemental Claim after a prior denial.

VA, Types of disability claims and when to file, https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/when-to-file/ — last updated May 3, 2024. Secondary-claim examples (arthritis from a service-connected knee; heart disease from service-connected hypertension).

38 C.F.R. § 4.1, Essentials of evaluative rating, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/4.1 — percentages as average impairment in earning capacity; diagnosis and examination required.

The Jacks Law Group, VA tinnitus rating (DC 6260), https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-tinnitus-rating-dc-6260-2026 — existing firm page; not a decision on any file.

The Jacks Law Group, VA sleep apnea rating (DC 6847), https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-sleep-apnea-rating-38-cfr-4-97-dc-6847-hr-9237 — existing firm page; not a decision on any file.

The Jacks Law Group, VA PTSD rating (38 C.F.R. § 4.130, DC 9411), https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/va-ptsd-rating-38-cfr-4-130-dc-9411-2026 — existing firm page; not a decision on any file.

The Jacks Law Group, PACT Act, https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/pact-act — existing firm page.

The Jacks Law Group, Secondary conditions, https://www.thejackslawgroup.com/secondary-conditions — existing firm page.