What the Board granted and denied for foot conditions

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 49,808 issues about foot conditions. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 37 percent. It sent 51 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

1,703 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 2,646 were dismissed or withdrawn. 294 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 148,955 issues across 105,097 decisions, 31 percent granted of the ones decided, and 47 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.

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 60 times and the Board decided at least 15 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page. A page states a percentage only once the Board has decided 20 of them. Below that it shows how many were decided and no percentage, because a rate on a handful of decisions reads as precision it does not have.

Claimed as secondary to foot conditions

• Knee conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 896 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 715 issues paired, 41 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 451 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Arthritis secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 305 issues paired, 65 percent granted of the ones decided

• Ankle conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 338 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 117 issues paired, 48 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 132 issues paired, 27 percent granted of the ones decided

• Neck conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 106 issues paired, 17 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 46 issues paired

• Wrist and hand conditions secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 43 issues paired

• High blood pressure secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 21 issues paired

• Sleep apnea secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 56 issues paired

• Peripheral artery disease secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 8 issues paired

• Diabetes secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 32 issues paired

• PTSD secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 21 issues paired

Foot conditions claimed as secondary to something else

• Foot conditions secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 445 issues paired, 34 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 452 issues paired, 33 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 211 issues paired, 47 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 223 issues paired, 37 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 128 issues paired, 35 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 66 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to hip conditions

  Since 2019: 43 issues paired

• Foot conditions secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 25 issues paired

• Foot conditions secondary to cold injury

  Since 2019: 10 issues paired

Recent decisions about foot conditions

A past Board decision binds only the case it decided, and the Board decides each case on its own facts. Another veteran's decision is not evidence about your condition. Read these to see what evidence the Board weighed, so you know what to gather for your own claim.

• June 29, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral foot condition, claimed as plantar warts and calluses

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 26, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to a 10 percent rating for left foot arthritis

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 26, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to a compensable rating for bilateral foot porokeratosis

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 26, 2026Denied

  Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral foot disorder

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 24, 2026Granted

  A separate disability rating of 10 percent, but no more, for right foot hallux valgus

  Read the decision at VA.gov

What this means for you

Three things carry a joint claim. Range of motion, measured in degrees. Functional loss, which is the rating rules' term for pain on use, weakness, tiring out, and the movements you cannot make. And a clear line from the injury in service to the joint that is painful now.

The exam carries a lot of weight. The rating rules say the exam has to show the functional loss, not just the degrees, and they count a joint that becomes painful on use as seriously disabled. Say what a bad day looks like, in plain words, and say it at the exam.

For a first claim, the link matters more than the pain. Service records that show the injury, the sick call visit, or a profile (the form that limited your duty) do the heavy lifting. A doctor's opinion that ties today's diagnosis to that event is what the Board reads for.

For a higher rating, the Board reads the numbers. Bring the degrees, the instability findings, and the words the rating rules use, like painful motion and functional loss. A statement from someone who watches you limp or stop mid-task fills in what the exam room misses.