Hearing Loss Archives - 3M Military Earplugs Lawsuit

According to the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs, hearing loss is the most common disability among all veterans who served in combat. If you are a veteran of military service who is suffering from either conductive hearing loss or tinnitus, it’s important to understand how to qualify for disability through the VA and what you may be eligible for.

What Veterans Can Qualify for VA Disability for Hearing Loss?

The VA has a whole system of classifying the severity of hearing loss and determining who is and isn’t eligible so every situation is different. Generally, veterans are eligible for coverage if they fall into any of these categories:

Veterans receiving compensation for another service-connected disability
Those who have been prisoners or war
Purple Heart recipients for those soldiers who were injured by the enemy during combat
Veterans receiving compensation under Title 38 United States Code 1151
Those who are permanently housebound or need a lot of assistance with care and activities of daily living
Any veteran who has service-connected hearing loss that affects their ability to communicate

How to Establish a Service Connection

The process to qualify for VA disability compensation for hearing loss is a long process. Part of what you must show is a service connection for your hearing loss or tinnitus. To make a disability claim and possibly receive benefits, you’ll have to show proof of several different things.

First, you’ll need a current diagnosis of a hearing condition. The VA is very particular about this. It should come from an audiologist to give it a little more weight, not your family doctor or PCP.

You will also have to provide evidence of the event you believed caused the condition. This can be done by carefully looking at your service record to identify times when you may have been exposed to noises like explosions, heavy machinery, or gunshots.

Finally, you will need to demonstrate a medical opinion that your hearing loss is a result of the exposure. You can usually receive this from your PCP or the audiologist performing your initial hearing test.

How Do They Determine the Severity of Hearing Loss?

There are two different hearing tests that are used to evaluate how bad your hearing loss is and whether or not you can make a VA disability claim.

The first test is called the Maryland CNC test and tests your ability to hear spoken words.

The second test is a pure tone audiometry test, which checks your ability to hear different frequencies ranging from high to low. Both ears are tested even if you’re only suffering from hearing loss in one of them and they should be performed by a licensed audiologist.

Next, the VA analyzes the results of these tests and uses a formula to assign a rating to your hearing loss through a percent disability rating. This rating ranges from 0 to 100 percent in increments of 10. The higher to number, the more disability benefits you’re entitled to. Minor hearing loss is typically assigned 0 which is no compensation or 10% which is a small amount every month. Obviously, the higher your rating, the less likely it is you can support yourself so more severe disabilities receive increasing levels of assistance and benefits. If you have a rating of 30% or higher, your dependents may also be qualified for coverage since you are likely unable to work enough to support them.

Remember, hearing loss severity is determined by how well your ears function together. The tests monitor overall hearing, not one ear at a time. If you have severe hearing loss in one ear but your other ear isn’t as bad, your disability will likely not be rated as high.

How Can Hearing Loss Be Avoided in Combat or in Training?

When it comes to hearing loss, prevention really is the best medicine. There are some things that soldiers can do to protect themselves while in the field.

Minimize exposure to loud and noisy environments when possible. While it’s not always possible to prevent exposure in wartime and in combat, the more soldiers can mitigate damaging frequencies in loud environments, the better.

That said, it’s important to wear both ear AND head protection in combat and while in training environments. Not only does this prevent damaging sounds from getting into your ears, but it also protects the head from any trauma that could lead to hearing loss and other significant neurological issues.

Have your hearing checked regularly. You should get a baseline test any time you return home from combat and then recheck every year to monitor any changes that occur so you can catch any problems early.

Getting What You Deserve

It’s not always easy to get the VA to approve disability for hearing loss. Even if you can show that there’s a service connection, it doesn’t mean that they will accurately determine the severity of your disability and how it affects your daily life.

If you feel that your disability is worse than what it been rated and that you have the right to further compensation, there are things you can do. You can file an appeal directly with the VA for up to one year following the initial decision. While it’s possible to do this on your own, it’s a long process with a lot of legalities involved so it’s a good idea to find a lawyer who can help you plead your case.

Veterans and Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is the most common medical issue for veterans returning from combat. While the VA does provide disability for hearing loss, getting what you deserve is not a fast or straightforward process.

The best thing you can do is get started as soon as possible. Visit an audiologist to get an expert opinion and hire a lawyer if you need help proving your claims. You never know what problems you’re going to have after returning from combat. It’s important to take care of the obvious one as soon as possible.

RELATED: 3M Military Earplug Lawsuit

LAWYERS FOR VETERANS

Believe it or not, the most common injury for veterans isn’t a missing limb or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The number one health issue that affects veterans is, in fact, a hearing injury. To the point, veterans are 30% more likely to have a severe hearing impairment than non-veterans.

Why Do So Many Veterans Suffer from Hearing Loss and Can It Be Treated?

The main reason that veterans are so affected by hearing loss is noise exposure. Loud sounds gunfire, tanks, heavy equipment, and explosives can really cause a lot of damage and leave them hard of hearing. Often, normal age-related hearing changes occur later in life, making the problem much worse.

Another reason noise exposure can be so damaging is that blast exposure can lead to auditory processing disorder, a condition that makes it difficult to understand speech even though hearing seems to be fine.

Some hearing loss can be reversed but most hearing loss sustained by veterans is permanent and can be reduced by using a hearing aid. Unfortunately, about one in five people who would benefit from a hearing aid actually use one. Any veteran who enrolls in health care through the VA is not only eligible for diagnostic testing, they can also get a hearing aid through the VA, as well as other disability benefits.

Is Hearing Loss Considered a Disability?

It is possible to qualify for disability benefits through the Social Security Administration if hearing loss is severe. Not only can this help with financial burdens, but it can also help you get qualified for additional programs that can provide assistance. It may even qualify you for medical coverage through Medicare or Medicaid.

The process of getting diagnosed with profound hearing loss can be expensive and tedious at times. In-depth evaluations are done by audiologists to determine the severity and even the type of hearing loss. Specialized tests and additional medical exams may be required to check your hearing threshold as well as visits to ear specialists.

Significant hearing loss can make it very difficult to maintain a high quality of life. Getting through the day can be hard and it gets in the way of personal relationships because communication is so difficult. Adapting communication to hearing loss can be very difficult.

Learning how to read lips, sign, or speak without hearing their own voice can feel insurmountable and lead to feelings of isolation, depression, and cognitive decline. For a veteran who may already be struggling with civilian life, this can be catastrophic.

So, how bad does hearing loss have to be to medically qualify as a disability? Generally, if you are no longer able to earn a gainful living as a direct result of your hearing loss, you may qualify.

The SSA uses what’s called the Blue Book which lists all the various conditions that disability insurance covers. To qualify, you have to meet the qualifying factors of one of the conditions contained in the Blue Book. That said, if your hearing loss does not meet any of these requirements but still impacts your ability to work, there is still a way to get assistance.

A medical vocational allowance requires a residual functional capacity test to determine your ability to work with your hearing loss. This evaluation looks at your age, education level, job skills, training, and work history in order to determine the kind of work you would be qualified to do. Then, they compare the day-to-day duties of this type of work to your ability to perform them. This assessment also includes your ability to perform normal tasks like cleaning, cooking, and taking care of your pets. The idea is to determine if you are capable of performing the work you’re qualified to do. If your hearing loss prevents you from being able to do this work and to do it safely, you may be entitled to disability compensation.

Can Hearing Loss Be Prevented?

Researchers, engineers, and medical professionals from the VA are currently studying how to prevent and treat hearing loss including looking into the combined effects of aging and noise exposure which affects so many veterans later in life.

Luckily, hearing protection is now mandatory for all active-service members in all branches of the military. There are a few different forms of hearing protection available including:

Level Dependent Earplugs. Most traditional earplugs are effective at protecting the inner ear but interfere with mission communication requirements. They made it difficult to hear speech as well as low-level sounds essential to completing the mission. The alternative is level dependent earplugs which eliminate harmful high-frequency noises while letting essential sounds through.

3M's Combat Arms^TM dual-ended earplugs were sold to the US Military from 2003-2015 under the pretense that these earplugs were intended to allow speech through while blocking damaging high-frequency noises. Recently, it was discovered that these 3M earplugs were defective and sometimes even amplified damaging noises. 
[Also read: 3M Pays $9.1M Fine for Defective Earplugs]

Earmuffs. Earmuffs create an airtight seal around the entire ear. They’re great for intermittent exposure or when you know you’re going to be around something that can do some damage. Military grade earmuffs commonly have an electric communication system so you can still hear important commands and conversation.

Noise-Attenuating Helmets. These advanced helmets not only protect from hearing loss, but they also prevent eye injury and protect against crash impact, too. They’re equipped with noise-reducing technology that cancels unwanted sound while still allowing for effective communication.

A Common Disability

Hearing loss is an injury that a lot of veterans cope with. In fact, they’re far more likely to have trouble with their hearing than a nonveteran.

Hearing loss can take a huge toll on anyone, especially any veteran who doesn’t have a lot of assistance or support. Communication is difficult, work becomes impossible, and can be really hard to adjust without the right assistance.

One important first step is to have your hearing evaluated by your doctor to see if a hearing aid would help. Most people with hearing loss can benefit from a hearing aid but don’t use one either because they don’t want to or aren’t aware of the benefits. Veterans can get evaluated and learn more about hearing aids through the VA.

For those who are really struggling, severe hearing loss can qualify for disability benefits. If the loss isn’t quite bad enough to fit into the parameters used by the SSA to define hearing loss, you may still be eligible if you’re unable to work as a direct result of your hearing loss.

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VA Disability for Hearing Loss