Other Scars and Disabling Effects of Scars — VA Rating (DC 7805)
Diagnostic Code 7805 · 38 CFR §4.118
What Is It?
DC 7805 is different from every other code in the scar family: it has no rating percentages of its own. The schedule lists it as "Scars, other (including linear scars) and other effects of scars evaluated under diagnostic codes 7800, 7801, 7802, and 7804," and its entire instruction is to evaluate any disabling effect not already considered under DC 7800 through 7804 under an appropriate diagnostic code. It is a routing rule, not a rating table. That makes it the most valuable and the most overlooked code in the group, because scars frequently cause impairment that the area and pain codes never touch. A burn contracture across the elbow limits flexion — that is a DC 5206 or 5207 rating. Deep scarring through a muscle group causes weakness — that is a muscle injury code in the 5301 to 5329 series. Scar tissue trapping a nerve produces numbness and burning — that is a peripheral nerve code. A scar over the abdomen that adheres to underlying structures can cause its own symptoms. In every case DC 7805 is the door, and whatever code fits the actual impairment is the room.
Rating Criteria
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 0% | DC 7805 assigns no percentage of its own. The regulation directs: evaluate any disabling effect(s) not considered in a rating provided under diagnostic codes 7800-04 under an appropriate diagnostic code. In practice the evaluation comes from the musculoskeletal, muscle-injury, neurological, or organ-system code that matches the actual impairment — limitation of motion, muscle damage, nerve involvement, or otherwise — and can range from 0% to the maximum available under that code. |
Evidence Needed
Because the rating comes from another code entirely, the evidence has to prove the impairment, not the scar. If the claim is limitation of motion, you need goniometer range-of-motion measurements in degrees for the affected joint, taken on both active and passive motion and after repetitive use. If it is muscle damage, the operative report describing which muscle group was involved, the depth of the wound, and whether tissue was lost or debrided is what a muscle-injury rating is built on. If it is nerve involvement, an EMG or nerve conduction study plus a neurological exam documenting the distribution of numbness, weakness, or burning pain. In every case a medical opinion connecting the impairment to the scar — not merely to the original injury — closes the loop and prevents the rater from treating the two as the same disability.
C&P Exam Tips
The scars DBQ has a section for whether the scar causes limitation of function, and it is frequently left blank. Tell the examiner directly which movement the scar restricts and demonstrate it. If the impairment is a joint problem, ask whether a separate musculoskeletal examination will be scheduled, because a scars examiner is not going to perform a full range-of-motion workup. Describe functional loss in terms of what you cannot do — reach overhead, grip a tool, walk on uneven ground, sit through a shift — and report pain, weakness, fatigability, and lack of endurance after repeated use, because the DeLuca factors require the examiner to account for additional loss during flare-ups and after repetitive motion.
How to File
Do not file DC 7805 as a standalone claim; file the impairment. On VA Form 21-526EZ, claim the scar itself under DC 7800, 7801, 7802, or 7804 as applicable, and then separately claim what the scar has caused — "limitation of motion of the right elbow due to burn scar contracture," "muscle weakness of the left thigh due to shrapnel wound scarring," "nerve pain of the right forearm due to surgical scar." Naming the impairment is what triggers the DC 7805 referral to the correct body-system code. Attach range-of-motion measurements, the operative report, and any nerve study.
Common Mistakes
The most common mistake is filing "scars" and expecting the VA to notice the functional loss. DC 7805 is a routing instruction, and if the claim never names an impairment there is nothing to route. The second mistake is assuming a separate rating for lost motion would be pyramiding — it is not, because DC 7800 through 7804 compensate disfigurement, area, and pain, and none of them compensate limitation of function; that is precisely the gap DC 7805 exists to fill. The third is stopping at range of motion when the deeper injury is a muscle group or a trapped nerve; muscle-injury codes and peripheral nerve codes often pay considerably more than a limitation-of-motion code for the same wound. The fourth is expecting a percentage from DC 7805 itself and reading a decision that shows it at 0 percent as a denial, when the compensation should be sitting under a different code entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage does DC 7805 pay?
None on its own. DC 7805 contains no rating table. It instructs the VA to evaluate any disabling effect of a scar that is not already covered by DC 7800 through 7804 under whatever diagnostic code fits that effect. The money comes from that other code — a limitation-of-motion code, a muscle-injury code, a peripheral nerve code, or an organ-system code — and can be far higher than anything the scar codes themselves offer.
Is rating my scar and my lost motion separately pyramiding?
No. 38 CFR §4.14 prohibits compensating the same disability twice under different names, but disfigurement, surface area, scar pain, and limitation of function are four distinct disabling effects. DC 7805 exists specifically to authorize an additional evaluation for effects the other scar codes do not consider. Cite DC 7805 by name if a decision denies the separate rating as duplicative.
My scar causes numbness and burning. What code applies?
The peripheral nerve code for the nerve involved — for example DC 8515 for the median nerve or DC 8520 for the sciatic nerve — reached through DC 7805. Scar tissue can entrap or compress a nerve, and the resulting sensory loss, weakness, or neuropathic pain is rated on the same scale as any other incomplete paralysis. An EMG or nerve conduction study and a neurological examination are the evidence that supports it.
What is a "linear scar" under DC 7805?
A scar that is essentially a line rather than an area — most surgical incisions are linear. Linear scars are not rated by area under DC 7801 or DC 7802, which is why the schedule routes them to DC 7805. A linear scar is compensated if it is painful or unstable (DC 7804) or if it causes some other disabling effect (DC 7805); otherwise it is noncompensable.