Painful Scars Are Worth 10% Each, and Most Skip Them

Yes, a painful or unstable scar is worth 10% under VA Diagnostic Code 7804, and most veterans never claim it. One or two scars pays $180.42 a month in 2026, and the rating stacks on what you already have.

Sara hosts with River, Liam, and Beth for a plain-English walk through the scar rating schedule in 38 CFR 4.118. We separate the code that rates pain by count from the codes that rate size by area and the code that rates the face and neck, then show exactly how to document a scar so a rater pays for it.

In this video:

• How Diagnostic Code 7804 pays 10, 20, or 30 percent by counting painful or unstable scars
• The extra 10 percent when a scar is both unstable and painful
• Why codes 7801 and 7802 rate scars by square inches, not by pain
• How head, face, and neck scars reach 80 percent under Code 7800
• Where surgical, burn-pit, and blast scars hide on your body
• The three documents that prove a painful scar: photos, the scar DBQ, and the C&P exam