Migraine VA claims: what the Board relied on in grants and denials

How often does the Board grant migraine claims?

Of 13,198 veterans whose migraine or headache service connection claim the Board decided from 2020 to 2025, it granted 24.8%, denied 17.9% and sent 57.3% back for more development.

These are service-connection claims only. The migraine topic page also counts rating appeals and shows the conditions migraine is claimed secondary to, so its numbers are different.

Migraine and other headaches

Kind of claim	Granted	Veterans	Share
Migraine	1,632	5,435	30.0%
Other headaches (tension, post-traumatic, unspecified)	1,639	7,782	21.1%

Most claims were for headaches the caption does not call migraine, and those did worse.

What the Board relied on

The comparison below sets the 3,270 grants against the 2,366 denials.

In grants (3,270 veterans) In denials (2,366 veterans)

The event in service

• Combat service

  8%

  5%

• Service records discussed

  82%

  92%

Medical evidence

• Positive nexus opinion

  50%

  10%

• Favorable VA exam

  27%

  7%

• Private medical opinion

  49%

  26%

• Treating doctor's opinion

  9%

  3%

• Unfavorable VA exam

  83%

  83%

• Negative nexus opinion

  68%

  69%

Statements and credibility

• Veteran's own statement

  87%

  92%

• Buddy statement

  6%

  4%

• Board found the veteran credible

  53%

  11%

• Board doubted the veteran's credibility

  8%

  27%

How the Board weighed it

• Benefit of the doubt applied

  78%

  11%

Share of granted (green) and denied (gray) veterans whose decision contained each item, as extracted by AI from the decision text. Remanded claims are left out of this comparison. This shows what the decisions contained, not what caused the result.

What separated migraine grants from denials?

A positive nexus opinion was in 49.6% of grants and 9.8% of denials, and the Board found the veteran credible in 52.7% of grants and 10.7% of denials. With both, it granted 71.0%; with neither, 7.4%.

Positive nexus opinion

No positive opinion

Veteran found credible

71%

granted · 711 of 1,001

54%

granted · 1,011 of 1,870

Not found credible

52%

granted · 912 of 1,756

7%

granted · 636 of 8,571

One count per veteran; a remand counts as not granted.

With both, the Board granted 711 of 1,001 claims. A credibility finding without a positive opinion was granted 54.1%, and a positive opinion without a credibility finding 51.9%. Most claims had neither: 8,571 veterans, of whom 636 were granted.

A negative VA exam did not end the claim: one was in 82.6% of grants, about as often as in denials. In the grants below, the Board gave such an opinion little weight when it missed headaches recorded in service or the veteran's account of when they began. A private medical opinion was in 48.7% of grants and 26.4% of denials, and the benefit of the doubt was applied in 77.8% of grants.

Can I win a migraine claim without headaches in my service records?

Yes, though a record helps. The issue caption or the Board's summary names headaches in service or a head injury for 2,432 veterans (18.4% of these claims), and the Board granted 29.6% of those, against 24.8% for all migraine claims. Without a record, the veteran's own account of when the headaches began, and a doctor's opinion that takes it into account, carry the claim.

Why are migraine claims denied?

For 2,153 denials, the Board's note named a missing medical link in 63.5% of them and the in-service event or onset in 39.7%. A missing current diagnosis came up less often (17.3%).

How migraines are rated

How are migraines rated?

Under DC 8100 in 38 CFR 4.124a, by how often prostrating attacks happen over the last several months: no compensable rating for less frequent attacks, then higher ratings for attacks averaging one every two months and once a month, and the highest rating for very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability. Other headaches, such as tension headaches, are usually rated by analogy to this code.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI and checked against the decision text:

• A25110260, December 2025: migraines granted; a post-deployment health assessment recorded headaches, and the Board found inadequate a VA opinion that said the service records were silent.
• A25110483, December 2025: migraines granted on the veteran's credible account of headaches that began in service and continued, despite a negative VA opinion that did not address that history.
• A25110982, December 2025: unspecified headaches granted on a private physician's opinion linking them to toxic exposure during service in Afghanistan; the Board found the VA examiner's opinion inadequate.
• A25110326, December 2025: migraines denied; on several periodic health assessments the veteran denied frequent or recurrent headaches, and the service records were silent.
• A25110959, December 2025: migraines denied; headaches were treated in service, but the veteran denied frequent headaches at separation, had no treatment after service and missed the VA exam without good cause.

What the data cannot tell you

These are what the decisions contained, not what caused the result. Some items, such as a credibility finding or the benefit of the doubt, are part of how the Board explains a grant. The evidence items were extracted by AI and apply to the whole decision, which often has other issues. "Headaches in service" is a word match on the issue caption and the Board's AI summary, so it undercounts. Rating appeals are left out. Historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• Look for headaches in the service treatment records, including post-deployment health assessments; a VA opinion that misses them can be challenged as based on inaccurate facts.
• Get statements on when the headaches began and how often they have come since, from the veteran and from family or fellow service members.
• Ask for a medical opinion that accounts for that history and names the diagnosis; claims for headaches not called migraine did worse.
• Check the separation exam and periodic health assessments; a denial of headaches there is the record the Board weighs against the claim, and it needs an explanation.
• Make sure the veteran attends the VA exam; a missed exam without good cause can sink the claim.