Migraine VA claims: PTSD, TBI and what the Board grants

How VA rates migraine

Migraine is rated under DC 8100 in 38 CFR 4.124a, from 0 to 50 percent. The rating turns on how often the veteran has prostrating attacks, the kind that force them to stop and lie down, over the last several months. A headache log and treatment records showing those attacks are what the rating rests on.

Migraine is usually a secondary claim

Under 38 CFR 3.310(a), a condition caused or worsened by a service-connected disability is service connected too. Most migraine claims at the Board are built that way.

Granted

All migraine claims

30.9%

Depression (major depressive disorder)

45.2%

Rhinitis

42.1%

Sleep apnea

40.3%

PTSD

39.0%

TBI

36.1%

Neck condition

32.7%

Tinnitus

30.4%

Hypertension

21.7%

Share of decided claims granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Secondary claims are the ones the Board marked as secondary to that condition.

Claimed secondary to	Granted	Veterans	Share
PTSD	486	1,245	39.0%
Tinnitus	257	846	30.4%
Neck condition	148	453	32.7%
TBI	137	380	36.1%
Hypertension	54	249	21.7%
Sleep apnea	89	221	40.3%
Depression	70	155	45.2%
Rhinitis	61	145	42.1%

PTSD is the link veterans claim most, by far. The links that won most often were less common: depression, rhinitis and sleep apnea. Hypertension, a common theory, did worst.

Look up your client's group

Every base, exposure, job and medal with at least 15 decided migraine claims, 112 groups in all. Only 2 clear our bar for a lead: decisions that name the Combat Action Badge (74 of 172) and the Iraq Campaign Medal (70 of 162).

Bases 21Exposures 36Military jobs 26Medals 29

Bar: share of this group's migraine claims the Board granted. Red line: all migraine claims, 30.9% granted. A bar past the line won more often than usual.

×

More often than usual: how much more often migraine comes up in this group's decisions than in all Board decisions. It shows how common the condition is here, not how often it wins.

Set aside

For groups VA does not presume, veterans whose decision shows service VA already presumes for migraine (for example Vietnam or Thailand for Agent Orange) are left out, because for them the presumption is the answer.

Sort byGrant shareMore often than usualClaims decided

• Fort Hood
  37.8% granted · 17 of 45

  0.8×more often

• Fort Polk
  32.0% granted · 8 of 25

  0.7×more often

• Fort Stewart
  31.6% granted · 6 of 19

  1.1×more often

• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
  30.0% granted · 15 of 50

  0.9×more often

• Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot
  26.7% granted · 4 of 15

  0.7×more often

• USS Enterprise
  26.7% granted · 4 of 15

  0.8×more often

• Fort Bragg
  25.0% granted · 13 of 52

  1.0×more often

• Fort Knox
  21.4% granted · 6 of 28

  0.7×more often

• Fort Sill, Oklahoma
  20.7% granted · 6 of 29

  1.1×more often

• aircraft carrier
  18.8% granted · 3 of 16

  0.9×more often

• Camp Lejeune
  17.9% granted · 61 of 340

  0.7×more often

• Da Nang AFB
  16.7% granted · 4 of 24

  0.3×more often

• Fort Jackson
  16.7% granted · 6 of 36

  0.8×more often

• Fort Benning
  15.9% granted · 7 of 44

  0.8×more often

• Fort Campbell
  13.8% granted · 4 of 29

  1.0×more often

• Fort Gordon (Eisenhower)
  13.6% granted · 3 of 22

  0.6×more often

• Fort Sam
  13.3% granted · 2 of 15

  1.3×more often

• Lackland AFB, Texas
  13.0% granted · 3 of 23

  1.1×more often

• Fort McClellan, Alabama
  12.3% granted · 8 of 65

  0.6×more often

• Fort Ord
  8.7% granted · 2 of 23

  0.8×more often

• Fort Dix, NJ
  7.1% granted · 2 of 28

  0.7×more often

What follows from migraine

Once migraine is service connected, depression claimed secondary to it was granted for 38 of 77 veterans (49.4%). Sleep apnea (65 of 230) and vertigo (22 of 105) were granted less often.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI:

• A25105479, December 2025: migraine granted secondary to PTSD; a VA examiner gave a positive opinion linking the headaches to the PTSD.
• A25110313, December 2025: post-traumatic migraine granted secondary to a service-connected TBI, on a private medical opinion.
• A25111222, December 2025: migraine claimed secondary to tinnitus, denied; the evidence did not show a link to service or to the tinnitus.

What the data cannot tell you

Secondary counts include only claims the Board marked as secondary to a condition. Groups come from what each decision mentions, and a mention is not proof of service there. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• Build the rating evidence early: a headache log of prostrating attacks and treatment records.
• Choose the secondary theory with the strongest medical support; PTSD, TBI, depression and sleep apnea all have Board grants behind them.
• Get an opinion that explains the mechanism, not only that the conditions coexist; the denials above turned on a missing link.