Cold Reality: How the VA Handles Cold Weather Injuries

Cold weather injuries are more common among veterans than you might think—especially for those who served in harsh winter environments or lacked proper gear and protection. In this episode, we explore how conditions like frostbite, trench foot, chilblains, and cold-induced neuropathy may qualify you for VA disability benefits.

You’ll learn how to recognize the long-term effects of cold exposure, how to link those injuries to your service, and what medical documentation the VA requires to approve your claim. We also break down VA rating criteria for cold injury residuals and share helpful tips for navigating C&P exams and appeals if your claim is denied.

📌 Topics Covered:

• Types of cold weather injuries recognized by the VA
• Long-term effects of frostbite, trench foot, and other cold exposure
• How to prove service connection for cold injuries
• What to expect from a VA C&P exam for cold-related conditions
• Secondary conditions linked to cold weather injuries (neuropathy, arthritis, etc.)
• VA rating schedule for cold injury residuals
• Tips for strengthening your claim with buddy statements and medical records
• Common reasons cold injury claims get denied—and how to respond

cold weather injuries VA claim, frostbite VA disability, trench foot VA claim, cold injury residuals, VA disability rating cold exposure, veteran cold injury compensation, frostbite military service, VA neuropathy claim, cold injury service connection, VA C&P exam cold injury, long-term effects of frostbite, how to file VA claim cold injury

📣 Resources Mentioned:

• VA Cold Injury Residuals Rating Criteria
• VA C&P Exam Guide
• [Veterans Benefits Administration Cold Injury Fact Sheet]
• Buddy Statement Template for Cold Weather Injuries

🎧 Listen Now:

If you served in extreme winter conditions or were exposed to freezing temps without proper protection, your injuries may be service-connected—and compensable. This episode gives you the knowledge and tools to move forward with confidence.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review if you found this episode helpful!

Episode Transcript

Leah Bucholz (00:05):
Guys, it's Leah B here from Prestige Veteran
Medical Consulting. I am a U.Army veteran, physician
assistant and formercompensation and pension
examiner. So today I wanna comeon and discuss cold weather
injuries. We just recently did avideo on hot weather injuries.
And so I thought we'd come onand talk about some of these
because they're pretty commonand a lot of veterans have
suffered from cold weatherinjuries and have residuals from
them many years later. Sowelcome back again, for those of

(00:31):
you new to the channel that welike to break down veterans
health related and benefitrelated issues, your rights and
plain practical languageeducationally so that you guys
can be informed and try to askyour doctors or your healthcare
providers to assist you withthings medically related to your
service, give you resources tofind accredited legal
representation if you don't knowwhere to find it, things like

(00:53):
that. So I'm Leah B. And todaywe're gonna talk about again,
something that's often veryoverlooked in the VA world and
that is cold weather injuriesand how they connect to VA
disability benefits. So whetheryou were stationed in Korea
training at Fort Drum or juststuck on a ten day field trip in
freezing temperatures, you'regoing to want to hear all about

(01:13):
this one.
So understanding cold weatherinjuries. So what are cold
weather injuries? So a lot ofyou guys have heard of things
like frostbite, frostnip andthings like that. So some cold
weather injuries can be just asdebilitating as any other
service related condition.They're not always dramatic, but
they're often long lasting andin many cases permanent.

(01:35):
The most common cold weatherrelated injuries military
service are things likefrostbite, like I mentioned. So
tissue freezing, usuallyfingers, toes, ears, nose,
trench foot, also known asimmersion foot from prolonged
exposure to wet or coldconditions. That's why we were
always told, make sure you'rewearing dry socks, make sure
your medics, when I was a medic,we were always checking feet,

(01:57):
making sure that people were notgetting trench foot or those
cold weather related injuries.So chill blains, small itchy red
or purple bumps caused by coldand damp exposures. Hypothermia,
when your body temperature dropsdangerously low and long term
cold sensitivity or peripheralneuropathy, pain, numbness, or

(02:19):
tingling in your extremitieseven years later.
These are more than just winterwar stories, right? They can
lead to nerve damage,circulatory issues, and
functional limitations thatstick around long after
discharge. So can you get VAdisability for a cold weather
injury? Of course. So the answeris yes.
So cold injuries can be serviceconnected and the VA does rate

(02:42):
them. So you're probably notgonna have something like
frostbite forever, right? You'regonna have the residual of
frostbite or the long lastingside effect, whether it's your
toes got amputated because theylost sensation and didn't get
good circulation. You're gonnahave some kind of long term side
effect from that. So to get aclaim approved, you need the
same three elements that wealways talk about, right?

(03:05):
So you're gonna need to have acurrent diagnosis like
neuropathy, cold sensitivity,some type of tissue damage,
whether that's an amputation orsomething like that. You've
gotta have that in service coldexposure or injury like
frostbite on duty or documentedtime and cold field conditions.
And then you have to have anexus. So a medical opinion

(03:26):
linking your current conditionto your military service. Now
that nexus doesn't have to befrom an outside source like a
company like mine or even yourtreating doctor.
You can get a no cost medicalopinion from the VAC and P exam.
It may not be favorable. It maybe negative or it may be
positive, but if it's prettystraightforward and your
evidence is there, hopefully theC and P examiners will agree and

(03:48):
then the adjudicators will takethat opinion and read you. But
you can also ask your treatingdoctor or you can come to a
company like mine that reviewsmedical records and provides
opinions when the evidencealigns. So here's an example.
So veterans who served duringthe Korean war or at Northern US
bases often report burning ornumbness in their hands and feet

(04:09):
decades later, and many of thoseare getting approved for
compensation. So what are somechallenges with VA claims for
cold weather injuries? So here'sthe hard truth. Okay, cold
injuries are often undocumented,especially in older records or
field situations where you mightnot have gone to the medic or
even realize that you wereinjured. A lot of cold exposures

(04:30):
happen in training, overnightops or long range patrols where
the last thing you're gonna dois think about going to sick
call.
You don't wanna get ragged on byyour battle buddies or your
first sergeant. Maybe you'redeployed and you just don't have
the ability to do that. Maybe itwas before electronic health
records and it was really justhard to get things documented or
get it into your long term, thatpaper record. So you still have

(04:53):
some options even if your stuffis undocumented or undocumented,
you might be able to get buddystatements from someone in your
unit who remembers the operationin sub zero temperatures. You
could use your unit locationdocumentation.
So proving you were deployed orstationed somewhere cold. Now is
that in of itself gonna do it?Maybe not, but in combination,

(05:15):
all of the evidence in totalitymay be supportive for you. So VA
medical exams, especially when adoctor can verify nerve damage,
pain or temperature sensitivitytoday. So also lay evidence,
your own written account can bevery powerful.
The VA has recognized that coldinjuries often go underreported
at the time and they encourageveterans to speak up later when

(05:36):
symptoms show. So what does theVA look for? How does the VA
rate these conditions? They lookat things like numbness, pain,
burning in the extremities, skindiscoloration, nail
abnormalities, ulcers, coldsensitivity that interferes with
work or daily living. Yourfunctional capacity has a lot to

(05:59):
do with it, right?
So circulatory or nerve damageconfirmed by a medical provider
can be helpful. Each affectedlimb can be rated individually.
That means if both feet and bothhands are impacted, you could
receive multiple separateratings depending on the
severity. The VA typically usesdiagnostic code 700122 for cold
injury residuals. Ratings canrange anywhere from 10 to 30%

(06:20):
per extremity with highercombined ratings depending on
symptoms.
And in some cases, theseinjuries can qualify you for
TDIU or special monthlycompensation if they
significantly limit yourmobility and function. So let's
talk about some research becauseI always like to give you guys
research that you can look upyourself, give to your treating

(06:43):
doctor, talk with youraccredited agent or attorney
about to see if they think itwould be helpful. So let's back
this up with some sciencebecause the research is clear.
Cold weather injuries havelasting impact and veterans are
a high risk group. So VA coldinjury protocol study in
02/2004, the VA conductedevaluations on Korean war
veterans exposed to extreme coldresults showed that over fifty

(07:05):
percent of those studiedexperienced long term effects
like neuropathy, coldsensitivity and chronic pain
even decades after exposure.
Military Medicine Journal, astudy published in Military
Medicine found that even mildphosphate or immersion foot can
cause long term vascular damage,poor healing and reduced
function, especially when theinjuries are repeated over time.

(07:28):
VA's cold injury residualsguide, the VA's official
training materials state thatcold injury residuals may not
appear until many years laterand commonly include
paresthesias or tingling,numbness, pain, or chronic
infections. So here's a quotefrom the VA, cold injuries often
result in chronic residualsymptoms that may be permanent.

(07:49):
So what can you do? If any ofthis sounds familiar to you, if
you've got numb toes, burninghands in cold weather or
worsening circulation issues,here's what I would recommend.
Obviously go see your treatingdoctor so that they can kind of
give you their medical opinionon what's going on. So
preferably one that is familiarwith cold weather injuries or

(08:11):
one that really knows you andhas been treating you for a long
time. You can get your servicerecords, focus on duty stations
or training events in coldenvironments. You can write a
detailed statement explainingthe exposure, the symptoms and
how it affects you now. You canask for a Nexus letter from your
treating doctor if they'rewilling to support you with one
that says that whatevercondition you have is at least

(08:32):
as likely as not related to yourin service exposures.
If you've been denied or youneed to file a new claim, if you
know how to do that on your own,great or connect with a VSO
organizations like the VAB, VFW,American Legion can help guide
you through it. You can alsotalk to an accredited attorney
or an accredited claims agent.You can seek those guys out on

(08:53):
va.gov. There's an accreditationsearch so you can find somebody
in your area or reallynationwide as long as they're
accredited they can help youwith this. So just remember that
the VA recognizes these injuriesand you have every right to get
the benefits you have earned.
So cold injuries aren't just athing of the past. If you served
in the field, on the line oranywhere with the snow and ice

(09:14):
where you had snow and ice inyour boots, your service might
be affecting you even now. Andhere's the thing, there's help
out there. You can gettreatment, support and
compensation. You just need tospeak up and start the process.
So thank you for joining me onour YouTube channel today.
Please like and subscribe, dropsome comments. Always love to
hear y'all's feedback. A lot ofyou guys will drop comments and

(09:36):
tell me about injuries that youhad in service related to
whatever the topic is. So I hopethis was helpful to you guys and
I guess I'll see you guys soon.
Thanks for watching.