Board decisions
What the Board granted and denied for cold injury and frostbite
In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 2,530 issues about cold injury and frostbite. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 33 percent. It sent 44 percent of all these issues back for more work.
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
147 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 153 were dismissed or withdrawn. 8 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.
Across every year we have indexed, that is 12,274 issues across 7,556 decisions, 30 percent granted of the ones decided, and 41 percent sent back for more work.
What a remand is
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.
What showed up in the decisions
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| What the decision mentions | Granted1,839 issues | Denied4,260 issues |
|---|---|---|
| A medical opinion, or the words nexus or at least as likely as not, anywhere in the decision | 70 percent | 76 percent |
| The words lay statement, buddy statement, or lay evidence | 55 percent | 60 percent |
| A hearing was held (the veteran or a witness testified) | 46 percent | 34 percent |
| The decision calls an exam or medical opinion inadequate | 6 percent | 6 percent |
These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.
Claimed together
A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.
Claimed as secondary to cold injury and frostbite
Arthritis secondary to cold injury
Since 2019: 9 issues paired, 0 percent granted of the ones decided
Knee conditions secondary to cold injury
Since 2019: 27 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided
Five recent decisions about cold injury and frostbite
- June 15, 2026Granted
Service connection for bilateral foot cold injury residuals, to include numbness, color changes, tingling and scaling of the skin
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 11, 2026Denied
Entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity disability, to include complex regional pain syndrome of the left lower extremity, residuals of frostbite, and neuropathy
Read the decision at VA.gov - April 30, 2026Denied
Entitlement to service-connection for the residuals of frostbite to the upper extremities
Read the decision at VA.gov - January 15, 2026Granted
Service connection for bilateral upper and lower extremity neuropathy and cold injury residuals
Read the decision at VA.gov - October 16, 2025Granted
Service connection for organic residuals of frostbite
Read the decision at VA.gov
What this means for you
The schedule rates a cold injury on pain, numbness, or cold sensitivity in the affected part, plus the findings the rule lists, such as nail changes, color changes, locally impaired sensation, sweating changes, tissue loss, and X-ray changes. Each affected part is rated on its own.
For a first claim, the exposure is the link. A service record of the cold exposure, the duty station and season, and a statement from someone who was there are what the claim rests on, together with a current exam of the affected parts.
For a higher rating, the exam has to record the findings the rule lists, part by part. The VA keeps the cold injury exam form off its public list, so your own doctor writes a report and the VA exam supplies the form.
Keep reading
Board decisions by condition
Every condition family and the secondary pairs that appeared most, counted from 1,479,738 Board decisions.
How to Read a Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision
Where VA Board decisions live and how to read one in ten minutes, using a real back case.
Lay Evidence and Buddy Statements That Hold Up at the Board
Who can write a statement for you, what they can say, and how the VA weighs it, with prompts for knee, back, sleep apnea, and PTSD.
Free to use. The written playbook is $49.99 once, when it ships.
An issue is counted in a family by its diagnostic code or by the words in the issue. One issue can be counted in more than one family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. The example decisions are recent ones we could link whose issue names this condition, chosen so that both outcomes are shown when we have them. Reopened claims and effective-date disputes are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours. Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.