Ankle conditions secondary to lower back conditions

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, ankle conditions appeared as secondary to lower back conditions in 213 issues. The Board granted 12, denied 39, and sent 151 back for more work. Of the ones it decided, it granted 24 percent.

Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.

Since 2019

2 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 8 were dismissed or withdrawn. 1 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 558 issues, 22 percent granted of the ones decided, and 64 percent sent back for more work.

The argument behind these claims

The argument in these claims is that a bad back changes the way you walk, which strains other joints. The counts above show how the Board answered, one claim at a time. Whether the link is true for you is a question for your doctor.

What a secondary claim needs

In a secondary claim, the Board reads for three things. A diagnosis of the second condition. A first condition that is already service connected. And a medical opinion that says the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and explains why. The rule itself is shorter than that. Here is the part that matters.

… disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(a), from the middle of its first sentence

Proximately due to means the first condition led to the second. The other route is aggravation, where the first condition made the second worse. The rule for that route is in the next paragraph of the same section, and it says increase in severity.

Any increase in severity of a nonservice-connected disease or injury that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury, and not due to the natural progress of the nonservice-connected disease, will be service connected.

38 CFR 3.310(b), first sentence

That paragraph goes on to say the VA will not concede aggravation without a baseline. A baseline is medical evidence of how bad the second condition was before the first one started making it worse, or the earliest record after that and before the evidence of how bad it is now. If you claim aggravation, find the earliest record you have of the second condition, from either window. Without a baseline from one of them, the VA will not concede aggravation. The other route, that the first condition led to the second, does not need a baseline.

A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.

Recent decisions on these claims

• December 23, 2025Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for right ankle range-of-motion loss, secondary to right lower extremity radiculopathy associated with lumbar strain status post laminectomy and microdiscectomy

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• August 8, 2025Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for a right ankle disability, to include as secondary to a lumbar spine disability

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• September 18, 2024Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for a right ankle disorder, including as secondary to the service-connected lumbar spine disability

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• August 12, 2024Granted

  Service connection for right ankle tendonitis and arthritis as secondary to the service-connected foot, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease ("back disability"), and right knee replacement…

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• February 3, 2024Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral ankle condition, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar strain disability

  Read the decision at VA.gov