"Cured"

Question:

If you have VA disability for bulging disk from direct service connection, then you go and have surgery will they take away your disability cause your "cured"? Even though statistically once one goes out it starts a domino affect?

 

Jim's Reply:

A service connected disability rating should reflect the state of the disability at a given moment in time. If you're having surgery for a disabling condition the intent and purpose of that procedure is to measurably improve the disabling condition. 
 

Once you have a corrective surgery you'll get a few months of 100% as a temporary rating as your recuperate. Then you'll have a C & P exam to determine just how successful the procedure was.
 

In theory, if the surgery was 100% successful, you'd be cured and your rating would drop to 0%. That doesn't ever happen that I'm aware of though and what usually happens is that the rating will stay the same or maybe even rise a bit. 
 

While a corrective surgery may fix one problem, it can cause others. There's scarring and often loss of sensation and so on that has to be considered as the C & P examiner makes the record. It'll be up to you to make sure the examiner understands all the things that trouble you.
 

In the end your rating isn't a reason to consider whether or not you should have a recommended procedure. There are a lot of factors to be weighed when you contemplate a serious operation and the end result of your rating shouldn't be one of them. Good luck sir.