The Musculoskeletal System is vast and
complex. It is made up of every bone, joint, muscle, tendon, ligament, and soft
tissue in the body. Because of this, a lot of things can go wrong.
We cover everything on our site, but to
make it a bit easier, here is a quick breakdown:
Limited motion of a joint is the most common musculoskeletal rating BY FAR. If any
condition, no matter what it is, causes a joint to have less motion than
normal, that condition will be rated on limited motion most of the time. There
are a few exceptions that are clearly noted on our site, but just always think
limited motion first, and you’ll be right the majority of the time.
All the information on rating amputations
can be found on our Amputations page.
Diseases:
Each disease is rated a bit differently, but all can be found on our Diseases of the Musculoskeletal System page. Do note that many of these diseases,
especially Degenerative Arthritis, are always rated on limited motion of the
joint that is affected unless there is no limited motion.
We’ve divided the ratings for the bones,
joints and tendons into pages for each body part:
Each joint
can be rated separately unless specifically noted. This means that if you have
a knee condition that later causes you to also have an ankle condition, both
the ankle and the knee can be rated separately.
Surgeries:
Joint replacements have their own ratings on the various body part pages.
Surgeries for tendons or ligaments, however, do not have their own ratings.
They are rated on limited motion of the affected joint. For example, the VASRD
does not have a code for an ACL tear. The ACL is a ligament in the knee, and an
ACL tear is most commonly treated by surgery. This condition is rated on the
motion that remains in the knee after the surgery. Is there too much motion?
Limited motion? All ligament or tendon conditions are rated on the main joint
that they affect.
The muscles are all divided into different
groups that control the various parts of the body:
All muscle conditions are either rated on
the limited motion of the affected body part or on the Slight to Severe scale, whichever
gives the higher rating. So if you have a muscle condition in your thigh
that limits the motion of your knee, then check both the muscle rating under
the Slight to Severe scale and limited motion of the knee to find which gives you
a higher rating.
It is very rare to get a rating for the muscles
and a rating for the related joint, but it is possible in more extreme or
special cases. It is all up to the Rating Authorities, however, so it’s
impossible for me to say definitively one way or the other. Normally just one
rating under either limited motion of the joint or the Slight to Severe scale,
not both.
All the information on rating muscle
hernias can be found on our Muscle Hernias page.
That’s it. If you are unable to find your
musculoskeletal condition, it will be rated analogously under the condition
that is closest to it, but it’s never a bad idea to think limited motion first.
