Facial Muscles Injury — VA Disability Rating (DC 5325)
Diagnostic Code 5325 · 38 CFR §4.73
What Is It?
DC 5325 covers injury to the muscles of facial expression — the platysma, frontalis, orbicularis oculi, orbicularis oris, zygomaticus, and the other superficial muscles that move the face. Combat mechanisms include shrapnel and fragment wounds, gunshot injuries crossing the face, blast injury with extensive facial soft-tissue damage, and the residuals of reconstructive surgery. Unlike the numbered muscle groups elsewhere in 38 CFR §4.73, this code carries no slight/moderate/severe table. Its rating cell is empty and the entry reads: "Muscle injury, facial muscles. Evaluate functional impairment as seventh (facial) cranial nerve neuropathy (diagnostic code 8207), disfiguring scar (diagnostic code 7800), etc. Minimum, if interfering to any extent with mastication—10." So there is exactly one figure attached to DC 5325 itself — a 10 percent minimum, triggered by any degree of interference with chewing — and everything else is evaluated under the codes the entry names. DC 8207 runs 30 for complete paralysis, 20 for incomplete severe, and 10 for incomplete moderate, dependent on the relative loss of innervation of the facial muscles.
Rating Criteria
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10% | Minimum, if interfering to any extent with mastication. This is the only percentage §4.73 attaches to DC 5325, and the trigger is deliberately low — any extent of interference with chewing meets it. Beyond that minimum the entry directs evaluation of functional impairment as seventh (facial) cranial nerve neuropathy under DC 8207 (complete 30, incomplete severe 20, incomplete moderate 10, dependent upon relative loss of innervation of facial muscles), as disfiguring scar under DC 7800, and under whatever other codes the impairment reaches. Those percentages belong to those codes, not to DC 5325. |
Evidence Needed
A current examination documenting facial muscle function — symmetry at rest, ability to smile, to close each eye, to whistle, and to control food in the mouth — is the core evidence. Photographs in repose and during attempted movement document the asymmetry. Imaging characterizes the underlying tissue defect and any retained foreign bodies. EMG and nerve conduction studies of the facial muscles separate muscle injury from facial nerve damage, which matters because DC 8207 is one of the codes the entry routes to and it is keyed to relative loss of innervation. Because the 10 percent minimum turns on interference with mastication, that finding needs to be stated explicitly in the record rather than inferred — any extent of interference meets it. Original surgical and trauma records establish the in-service event, and records of reconstructive surgery document the course.
C&P Exam Tips
Demonstrate the asymmetry during movement, not just at rest: closing each eye fully and noting any visible sclera, smiling broadly, whistling, raising both eyebrows, clenching the jaw. Ask the examiner to state in the report whether chewing is interfered with to any extent, because that single finding carries the 10 percent minimum under DC 5325 by itself. Bring photographs from before and after the original injury. Describe functional impact concretely: difficulty controlling food or liquid in the mouth, chronic dry eye from incomplete eye closure, difficulty articulating certain sounds. Request evaluation under DC 8207 for the facial nerve component and under DC 7800 for disfigurement, since those are the codes the entry names and where the larger percentages live.
How to File
File VA Form 21-526EZ listing facial muscle injury under DC 5325 and request evaluation under the codes its entry names — DC 8207 for the facial nerve component and DC 7800 for disfigurement — because DC 5325 itself carries only the 10 percent mastication minimum. Attach the original trauma records, current examination findings, photographs, imaging, EMG and nerve conduction studies, and any reconstructive surgery records. Make sure the record states whether chewing is affected, since that is what triggers the minimum.
Common Mistakes
Expecting DC 5325 to be rated on the muscle-injury severity framework. It carries no such table — one 10 percent minimum for interference with mastication, and everything else evaluated under DC 8207, DC 7800, and the other codes the entry names. Letting the examination miss the mastication finding, which is the one thing that earns the minimum outright. Letting the C&P exam proceed with static facial inspection only, so the dynamic asymmetry that DC 8207 turns on is never recorded. Not pursuing the disfigurement evaluation, which for a visible facial injury is usually the larger of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage does DC 5325 pay?
One figure belongs to the code itself: a 10 percent minimum if the injury interferes to any extent with mastication. The rating cell in 38 CFR §4.73 is otherwise empty, and the entry directs that functional impairment be evaluated as seventh (facial) cranial nerve neuropathy under DC 8207, as disfiguring scar under DC 7800, and so on. Those codes carry their own percentages — DC 8207 is 30 for complete paralysis, 20 for incomplete severe, and 10 for incomplete moderate.
Is facial nerve damage rated under DC 5325?
No — it is rated under DC 8207 in the cranial nerve schedule, which is one of the codes the DC 5325 entry expressly directs evaluation to. After combat trauma the two often coexist: the muscle itself is torn or scarred and the nerve supply is interrupted. EMG and nerve conduction studies distinguish the contributions, and DC 8207 is keyed to the relative loss of innervation of the facial muscles.
Why request a DC 7800 disfigurement evaluation as well?
Because the DC 5325 entry names it, and because for most veterans with visible facial muscle injury it is the larger evaluation. DC 7800 in §4.118 is rated by counting characteristics of disfigurement — scar length and width, contour distortion, abnormal pigmentation and texture — and reaches 80 percent, while DC 5325 itself carries only the 10 percent mastication minimum. Ask for both to be considered and identify the visible characteristics specifically.