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Hearing loss and rigging in ears experience with VA


BRlang
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This has probably been discussed on the board many times but I just discovered the MB. I have hearing loss and rigging. I saw my doctor yesterday and she said my loss was consistent with what she has seen for flight crew. She is certified by the VA to do VA connected testing. She said I should file a claim and they should have the DB data for my job code and the C-130...Any one got any suggestions or advice...My job code was A60750..C-130 Loadmaster..

Many engine running off loads in Vietnam but I wasn't really there so I can't claim that...YET!!

Thanks

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This is my experience,---I filed for a hearing loss and ringing (tinnitus), with the VA and I received a 10 % loss. It took approx 10 months to get it but I got paid retroactive back to the date of the claim. There were no questions about having boots on the ground and Viet Nam wasn't mentioned. In other words, with your loss being related to your military duty it is enough no matter where you were stationed. After I filed the claim I was sent to a hospital that was approved to do the tests. I wasn't able to go just anywhere I chose. I spent almost 33 months in and out of Viet Nam as a crew chief and also had a documented hearing loss while at Naha. They of course wouldn't give me the 20% I asked for because to them it was one caused by the other but not worth two claims.

As far as boots on the ground, I have never tried to get proof and I think I would have a hard time doing it! Mostly because of lack of paper work which I didn't keep!

Basically the hearing loss is like workman's comp in the civilian world. Job related!!

I am sure you will be awarded 10% for your ringing if they find it in the tests whether you were in Viet Nam or not! Also, they told me there is no way to disprove ringing !!

So, go for it, it is a start!! By the way, I think I get $130.00 a month!!

Ken

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Ken,

I'm very ignorant about the VA benefits. I have never filed a claim with them, but after reading all the different threads about hearing loss, I'm tempted to do so. I know I have a hearing loss -- my girlfriend has a hard time watching TV with me because I keep the volume so loud, but even with that, I miss a lot of the dialogue/ I guess 23 years on mostly C-130's as a crew chief and FE would cause that.

That $130.00 youreceive from the VA -- is that a check or some kind of credit?

Thanks.

Don R.

Edited by DC10FE
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I retired 3 1/2 years ago and claimed hearing and ringing in my ears (tinnitus) (had my hearing base line changed 3 times in 25 years) and thought it was a done deal as I had heard from so many others. Turns out my hearing was very good considering my age and my time spent on the flightline and shooting rivets. I got nothing for hearing loss but I did get 10% for tinnitus...no questions asked...hard to question that as it's very hard for doctors to say you are not experiencing ringing in the ears. Deployments/combats zones may lead to tinnitus but not necessarily a requirement for compensation.

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Don't see where engine running off loads would have anything to do with it. Backing or engines starts would put you in as close proximity outside as engine running off loads. Vietnam was also not the only place where engine running off loads were done. Several thousand hours flying time wouldn't improve your hearing much even if you never stepped off the ramp with engines running.

Missing a lot of dialog with girlfriends can be a blessing in disguise.

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Don,

I get a check, actually a deposit to my checking account every month. When I filed for the hearing loss, I did it through a representative with an office in the VA clinic. He tried to get me the 20% for my documented hearing loss & tinnitus, but I guess (according to three pages of explanations),

I was only good for the tinnitus. I decided that that would have to do!

I have had very good luck with my VA in Billings, and have no complaints about them! But, I have never had to prove "boots on the ground" & maybe I will never need to, but maybe my opinion will change if I do!!

Ken

Edited by Mt.crewchief
adding stuff
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According to the paperwork I recieved from the VA, a 10% rating for tinnitus is a federal limit. In order to get more than 10% you need some other disability rating in addition to the tinnitus. A 10% rating for tinitus entitles you to your monthly check from the VA and free hearing aids and eye glasses.

The tinitus claim has nothing to do with where or when you served. I just had to tell them that I've been working on the flightline for 10+ years, answered some questions, and sat in the hearing booth. They didn't care where I was stationed or where I've been deployed. This was in 2012.

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That's kind of what I was trying to say I think. My documented hearing loss at Naha wasn't enough I guess. I did get hearing aids long before I ever filed for the Tinnitus. I didn't know for sure about the eye glasses part. That's good news! I have been having eye checkups, but still haven't needed new glasses. Of course, I would have to pass on the glasses if they look anything like the dorky looking glasses I got in basic!!!

It's kind of sad to say, but I don't think any of us has ever gotten the same answer to the same question. Even the official letters don't read the same. Maybe someday there will be a set of procedures that pertains to everyone--all of the time!!

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Never had to document anything on the glasses. Been getting eye exams and got free reading glasses when I needed them from the VA. Just had eyes checked again. The glasses the VA gives out are not the safe sex glasses from basic and you get a few choices for frames here. They asked me if I wanted hearing aid, but I didn't want it. Told them there was not enough that anybody said to me which was important enough I wanted to hear it.

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  • 5 months later...

I think it would be pretty hard to file for a hearing loss unless it is documented while in the service. I have a documented loss at Naha, and also filed for tinnitus  two

years ago. They acknowledged both but would only give me a 10% disability. 

I see I already said this above, but I think it bears repeating.  But, I was told by the gal that checked my hearing for my claim (hired by the VA), that there is no way they can dispute a tinnitus claim as there is no test that shows it! I think your job description while in the Air Force would qualify you!!

I do think an appeal will get you the 10% on the Tinnitus---retroactive to the day you filed the claim!!!  I think the $130.00 a month I get for listening to a variable pitch constant ringing  in my ears day and night is rather low for my work for four years on the Herk.  Don't get me wrong, I would do it all over again!!!!!! (of course with ear protection this time)

You know I can't count how many times I have answered the phone when nobody is calling!!!!!

 

Ken

 

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Thanks, Ken.

I was involved in an accident at Bien Hoa when a tire was locked up during landing and while unloading Cambodians the tire blew into the cargo area killing a couple of troops and knocked me out the back of the ramp. I have airforce pictures and some I took of the aircraft. It set us on fire and blew parts a hundred yards from the plane. Their denial said I never sought medical treatment for hearing while in the Airforce but as a 20 year old you just man up and keep going. Its hard to complain about your ears ringing when you have dead people and blast injuries around you..I never went to the Dr for it. I am going to base my appeal on this accident. I can not remember a time in my adult life that I didn't have this ringing. Heck the 175 that fired every 2 or three minutes ay Song Be next to the ramp was enough to make you deaf..

 

BR

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  • 4 months later...

I filed for hearing loss after I was diagnosed with it and given hearing aids by the VA. They gave me 10% for tinnitus. I've been told that is the standard that the VA will give for anything related to hearing. I wrote a statement about how I had flown 6,500 hours in the military and worked on the flight line before that. Now, I was already rated at 40% due to II diabetes and complications (neuropathy in my legs.) The VA uses a system where they add up the points for each disability than rate the veteran based on how they affect them. For instance, my original claim came up with 70 points but they gave me a 40% disabled rating (it was increased to 50% for hearing (tinnitus.) I don't know if they used the hearing tests I had on my flight physicals while still in the USAF or not.

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As an update, I have sent in a packet of new evidence using the blast as a significant event. I did not file an appeal but requested a new evaluation based on new evidence. My VSO said I should hear something by December...I also sent them my first and last flight physicals showing a large decline in my hearing in only 42 months. Sam, nice reading up on your adventures.. I was in the 345th at CCK from May 70 til August 71.....

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  • 1 month later...

Do not go to a civilian lawyer.  You simply need to file a notice of disagreement and appeal.  If your Notice of Disagreement was denied, follow up and file a VA Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA).  BVA has said in the past that if the veteran reports tinnitus, they cannot refute it.  Hang in there.

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On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2015‎ ‎11‎:‎03‎:‎55‎, Atouk said:

Do not go to a civilian lawyer.  You simply need to file a notice of disagreement and appeal.  If your Notice of Disagreement was denied, follow up and file a VA Form 9, Appeal to Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA).  BVA has said in the past that if the veteran reports tinnitus, they cannot refute it.  Hang in there.

Sorry I'm late on my comment on your post. But I agree with Atouk: don't put your claim or anything else in a (civilian) lawyers hands. You are your best advocate. Work within the system and be patient.

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  • 4 months later...

I am working up my appeal for Tinnitus. I was denied as I could not prove service related and it was not on any of my flight physicals.

I thought I had a pretty good packet but since it was not on my exit physical and I cannot prove the onset was within a year of discharge they denied. Have any of you had success for this claim without a notation in your medical records. I was very descriptive about my exposure as a loadmaster and it fell on deaf ears (pun intended). I even had a significant event where a tire blew up into the plane killing 3 Cambodian troops and me off my feet onto the ramp. They stated that I didn't seek medical attention at the time of the blast.. It's hard to raise your hand for help when you have casualties being evacuated. My ears rang every time I unloaded at Song Be with that 175MM going off every minute or so..

Any advice would be appreciated. 

 

BR Lang

C-130 Blast.pdf

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Bill Lang....

I was part of the recovery crew from TSN.. We scabbed over the damaged area after removing most loose parts and if I remember right, it was "buddy started" and sent to the PI.. GTC and most of the hardware was removed, lines capped, tires changed and gear chained dn .. #1 had a prop blade blended.. #2 had fuel/oil lines damage..

The grayed image has me talking with the AP.. No hat.. I went on several recovery.. Yours was the most damage.. Almost suggested burning it..

What was the base and tail number of acft??

I pestered the VA until I got 10% for tinnitus. Mine was based on 20yrs flt line .. 

Jack DePue, Panama City Fl.

572958b2ef4ab_ShachelChargeSVNSept70(2).572958d3884d1_ShachelChargeSVNSept70(3).572958e297b49_ShachelChargeSVNSept70(4).572958f412a25_ShachelChargeSVNSept70.thu

 

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