On this page
- Hyperhidrosis and vitiligo VA rating criteria (DCs 7832 and 7823)
- Hyperhidrosis: what decides 0 or 30 percent
- Bullous disorders and diseases of keratinization (DCs 7815 and 7824)
- Vitiligo on the face and overlapping skin conditions
- How much VA pays for hyperhidrosis and vitiligo
- How to prove hyperhidrosis or vitiligo is service connected
- Depression secondary to vitiligo
- The C&P exam and the Skin Diseases DBQ
- Why VA denies hyperhidrosis and vitiligo claims
- Questions veterans ask about hyperhidrosis and vitiligo
- Sources
Hyperhidrosis and vitiligo each get one short entry in the skin section of the rating schedule. Hyperhidrosis, sweating beyond what the body needs, has two levels, 0 and 30 percent, and the line between them is whether you can handle paper or tools after treatment. Vitiligo, a condition where patches of skin lose their color, has two levels too: 10 percent when the patches are on exposed skin and 0 percent when they are not.
This page covers both codes word for word, how the dedicated vitiligo code applies to exposed skin, and two less common skin codes in the same group: bullous disorders such as pemphigus, and diseases of keratinization such as ichthyosis. It also covers how to prove service connection, the exam and why VA denies these claims. Eczema, psoriasis, acne and scars have their own pages: eczema, psoriasis, acne and scars. The Board section further down shows how appeals for this group of skin conditions have ended.
Hyperhidrosis and vitiligo VA rating criteria (DCs 7832 and 7823)
38 CFR § 4.118 gives each condition a short table of its own:
| Code | Schedule text | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| DC 7832, hyperhidrosis | "Unable to handle paper or tools because of moisture, and unresponsive to therapy" | 30% |
| DC 7832 | "Able to handle paper or tools after therapy" | 0% |
| DC 7823, vitiligo | "With exposed areas affected" | 10% |
| DC 7823 | "With no exposed areas affected" | 0% |
There is no 10 percent level for hyperhidrosis and nothing above 10 percent for vitiligo under its own code. Because hyperhidrosis is listed by name, VA cannot move it to the general skin formula, which goes up to 60 percent, to reach a higher number. In Copeland v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 333 (2015), the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims held that a condition listed in the rating schedule may not be rated by analogy under another code.
The vitiligo code does not ask how much skin is involved, and § 4.118 does not define exposed areas. Read plainly, exposed areas are skin that everyday clothing leaves uncovered, such as the face, neck and hands. DC 7823 does not specify a minimum area threshold for that level. Make sure the exam report says where every patch is.
Hyperhidrosis: what decides 0 or 30 percent
The 30 percent level has two parts, and you need both: moisture keeps you from handling paper or tools, and the condition is "unresponsive to therapy." The 0 percent level describes the opposite result, a veteran who can handle paper or tools "after therapy." That makes your treatment history the core evidence.
A 2026 review describes several approaches to treating hyperhidrosis, including topical treatments, medicines, injections, devices and surgery. The authors also note that few high-quality studies assess long-term results (Schreiner and colleagues, 2026). Your rating evidence should document what was actually tried and whether it controlled the functional problem described by DC 7832.
The treatment history helps VA evaluate the two requirements together. For each treatment you have tried, the record should say when you started it, how long you used it, whether your hands stayed wet enough to ruin paperwork or lose grip on tools, and whether you stopped it because of side effects. The schedule does not define "unresponsive to therapy." When your picture falls between the two levels, 38 CFR § 4.7 says "the higher evaluation will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria required for that rating."
Bullous disorders and diseases of keratinization (DCs 7815 and 7824)
Both codes rate under the General Rating Formula for the Skin in § 4.118:
| Rating | General Rating Formula for the Skin (at least one of the following) |
|---|---|
| 60% | "Characteristic lesions involving more than 40 percent of the entire body or more than 40 percent of exposed areas affected; or Constant or near-constant systemic therapy including, but not limited to, corticosteroids, phototherapy, retinoids, biologics, photochemotherapy, psoralen with long-wave ultraviolet-A light (PUVA), or other immunosuppressive drugs required over the past 12-month period" |
| 30% | "Characteristic lesions involving 20 to 40 percent of the entire body or 20 to 40 percent of exposed areas affected; or Systemic therapy including, but not limited to, corticosteroids, phototherapy, retinoids, biologics, photochemotherapy, PUVA, or other immunosuppressive drugs required for a total duration of 6 weeks or more, but not constantly, over the past 12-month period" |
| 10% | "Characteristic lesions involving at least 5 percent, but less than 20 percent, of the entire body affected; or At least 5 percent, but less than 20 percent, of exposed areas affected; or Intermittent systemic therapy including, but not limited to, corticosteroids, phototherapy, retinoids, biologics, photochemotherapy, PUVA, or other immunosuppressive drugs required for a total duration of less than 6 weeks over the past 12-month period" |
| 0% | "No more than topical therapy required over the past 12-month period" and lesions on less than 5 percent of the entire body or of exposed areas |
Under § 4.118(a), systemic therapy is treatment given "through any route (orally, injection, suppository, intranasally) other than the skin." Pills and injections count; creams do not.
DC 7815 covers "pemphigus vulgaris, pemphigus foliaceous, bullous pemphigoid, dermatitis herpetiformis, epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, benign chronic familial pemphigus (Hailey-Hailey), and porphyria cutanea tarda." Its note says to "Rate complications and residuals of mucosal involvement (ocular, oral, gastrointestinal, respiratory, or genitourinary) separately," so blisters in the eyes or mouth can add their own ratings. DC 7824 covers ichthyoses, Darier's disease and palmoplantar keratoderma.
The formula ends with another route: "Or rate as disfigurement of the head, face, or neck (DC 7800) or scars (DCs 7801, 7802, 7804, or 7805), depending upon the predominant disability." The schedule adds that "This rating instruction does not apply to DC 7824," so that route is open for bullous disorders but not for diseases of keratinization.
Vitiligo on the face and overlapping skin conditions
Vitiligo is listed under DC 7823. Pigment loss on the face does not automatically authorize switching to DC 7800 to obtain a higher rating. Copeland v. McDonald bars analogous rating of a condition already listed in the schedule. A distinct scar or other separately diagnosed disability must be considered on its own supported findings, without counting the same manifestation twice under § 4.14.
For multiple skin conditions, § 4.118(b) states: "Two or more skin conditions may be combined in accordance with § 4.25 only if separate areas of skin are involved. If two or more skin conditions involve the same area of skin, then only the highest evaluation shall be used."
Document the diagnosis and location of each skin condition. Photos can support that record, but neither a photo nor the presence of pigment loss by itself establishes a higher disfigurement evaluation.
How much VA pays for hyperhidrosis and vitiligo
At VA's rates effective December 1, 2025, a veteran alone receives $180.42 a month at 10 percent and $552.47 at 30 percent. Bullous disorders and diseases of keratinization can reach 60 percent under the general formula, which pays $1,435.02 a month. A 0 percent rating pays nothing by itself, but it keeps the condition service connected, so it can rise later and can anchor secondary claims. When you have other ratings, VA combines them rather than adding them; the combined rating calculator shows the result.
How to prove hyperhidrosis or vitiligo is service connected
Every claim needs a current diagnosis, an event, injury or illness in service, and a medical link between them. Start with the current diagnosis and the records supporting it.
Get a named diagnosis
"Sweaty hands" and "white spots" are descriptions, not diagnoses. The 2026 review lists the steps doctors use to diagnose hyperhidrosis: a clinical history, a Minor (starch-iodine) test, gravimetry and dynamic sudometry. It also separates primary hyperhidrosis from secondary hyperhidrosis, which "is associated with specific illnesses and medications" (Schreiner and colleagues, 2026). Which kind you have shapes the claim. For vitiligo, a dermatologist's note that names it and maps the patches is the starting point.
Hyperhidrosis that began in service
If your hands sweated enough in service to smear paperwork, slip on a weapon or tool, or send you to sick call, that history is evidence of when it started. If it was never charted, statements from you and from people who served with you about what they saw are competent lay evidence; the buddy letter tool walks you through one.
Hyperhidrosis or vitiligo secondary to a service-connected condition
Under 38 CFR § 3.310, a condition caused or aggravated by a service-connected condition is service connected too. Because secondary hyperhidrosis is tied to illnesses and medicines, heavy sweating that started with a drug prescribed for a service-connected condition, or with the condition itself, is worth a doctor's opinion.
The opinion should address both cause and aggravation: the skin condition is aggravated by the veteran's service-connected diabetes, meaning it would be less severe but for the diabetes. When aggravation is at issue, an opinion addressing only cause can be inadequate under El-Amin v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 136 (2013).
Pigment loss after chemical exposure
Not every white patch is ordinary vitiligo. Chemical leukoderma "often clinically mimicking idiopathic vitiligo" is pigment loss caused by chemicals that damage pigment cells, most of them phenols and catechol compounds (Bonamonte and colleagues, 2016). The review names two clues doctors look for: repeated exposure to a known or suspected depigmenting agent where the patches started, and patches that match the places the chemical touched.
If your patches first appeared where your skin met a product you handled in service, tell the dermatologist and the examiner what it was, how often you used it and where it touched you. That is the history a direct claim needs. The same review notes that color can slowly return once the chemical is avoided, which makes records from the period when the patches were active important.
Agent Orange and Gulf War routes
Porphyria cutanea tarda, one of the bullous disorders under DC 7815, is on the herbicide presumptive list in 38 CFR § 3.309(e). Unlike most diseases on that list, it has a time limit: under § 3.307(a)(6)(ii), it must have "become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service."
Under 38 CFR § 3.317, Persian Gulf War veterans can be service connected for an undiagnosed illness, and the list of qualifying signs includes "Signs or symptoms involving skin." The undiagnosed illness route requires an illness that "cannot be attributed to any known clinical diagnosis." The PACT Act amended 38 U.S.C. § 1117(a)(1) to allow a qualifying chronic disability to become manifest "to any degree at any time." The older 10 percent threshold and December 31, 2026 manifestation deadline still printed in § 3.317 no longer govern eligibility; qualifying service and the other illness requirements still matter. A diagnosed condition such as vitiligo does not fit this route, but skin problems that no diagnosis explains may. See the Gulf War illness page.
Depression secondary to vitiligo
A separately diagnosed mental health condition may also require attention. A 2017 meta-analysis of 25 studies with 2,708 vitiligo cases found that about 25 percent had depression by diagnostic codes and about 34 percent had depressive symptoms on questionnaires, and that people with vitiligo had about five times the odds of depression of people without it (Lai and colleagues, 2017). Results varied between studies, and the association does not establish that vitiligo caused depression in an individual case.
If service-connected vitiligo caused or worsened depression or anxiety, that condition can be service connected under § 3.310 and rated under the mental health formula, according to its own severity criteria. See depression and anxiety.
The C&P exam and the Skin Diseases DBQ
VA examines these conditions with the Skin Diseases DBQ. Before the exam:
- For hyperhidrosis, list every treatment. Name each product, pill, injection, device or surgery, with dates, how well it worked and any side effects that made you stop. The 30 percent level turns on "unresponsive to therapy."
- Describe what your hands can do. Say whether paper wrinkles or smears and whether tools or a steering wheel slip, at work and at home, after treatment.
- For vitiligo, map the patches. Ask the examiner to record which patches are on exposed areas, including your face, neck and hands where affected.
- Bring color photos. Dated, unedited photos show what the exam day may not.
- For pemphigus, ichthyosis and the other formula codes, bring your 12-month medication record. The levels count weeks of systemic therapy, so the dates matter.
Raven Scan can help you review your uploaded medical records as you prepare for the exam.
Why VA denies hyperhidrosis and vitiligo claims
The Board section below shows what the Board found missing in denied appeals for this skin group and why it sent others back. These are the patterns behind those numbers.
No current diagnosis. The diagnosis and treatment history need to establish what condition is present. Clear skin on exam day does not by itself negate a documented condition during the claim. Under McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007), a condition present at any time during the claim meets the current disability requirement, so records and photos from active periods count.
No link to service. The evidence must also address the service link. An examiner may call vitiligo autoimmune or hyperhidrosis inherited and stop there. A favorable opinion has to engage with your exposures, your timeline or the service-connected condition you are claiming it is secondary to.
No in-service event. If symptoms were not recorded in service, describe when they began and who observed them. Lay statements and old photos help fill that gap.
The wrong level. A hyperhidrosis rating of 0 percent when the record shows that treatment failed, or a vitiligo rating of 0 percent when patches are on your hands or face, is worth appealing with the treatment record or the photos.
An inadequate exam. An inadequate VA exam is the most common reason the Board sends these claims back; the remand reasons below show how often.
Questions veterans ask about hyperhidrosis and vitiligo
What is the VA rating for hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis rates 30 percent under DC 7832 when you are unable to handle paper or tools because of moisture and the condition does not respond to therapy. It rates 0 percent when you can handle paper or tools after therapy. There is no level in between.
Can hyperhidrosis be rated higher than 30 percent?
Not under its own code, and because hyperhidrosis is listed by name, VA cannot rate it by analogy under the general skin formula. A higher combined rating can come from separate conditions, such as depression or anxiety secondary to the hyperhidrosis.
What is the VA rating for vitiligo?
Vitiligo rates 10 percent under DC 7823 when exposed areas are affected and 0 percent when they are not. The code does not measure how much skin is involved.
Can vitiligo on the face get a higher rating?
DC 7823 already covers vitiligo with exposed areas affected at 10 percent. Facial pigment loss alone does not automatically justify a different code with a higher maximum. Any distinct additional disability needs its own supporting findings.
Can depression from vitiligo be service connected?
Yes, if the vitiligo is service connected. A meta-analysis found people with vitiligo had about five times the odds of depression, and depression caused or worsened by a service-connected condition is secondary under 38 CFR § 3.310. You need a medical opinion that explains the link in your case.
Is porphyria cutanea tarda an Agent Orange presumptive condition?
Yes. It is on the list in 38 CFR § 3.309(e), but it must have reached 10 percent within a year of your last exposure to herbicides in service. It rates under DC 7815 with the general skin formula.
Sources
- 38 CFR § 4.118, skin ratings, DCs 7800, 7815, 7823, 7824 and 7832 (opens in a new tab), eCFR current through October 5, 2026
- 38 CFR § 4.7, higher of two evaluations (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 4.14, avoiding pyramiding (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.307 and § 3.309(e), herbicide presumptions (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.310, secondary service connection (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.317, Persian Gulf veterans (opens in a new tab)
- 38 U.S.C. § 1117, Gulf War eligibility after PACT Act section 405 (opens in a new tab)
- Copeland v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 333 (2015); El-Amin v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 136 (2013); McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007)
- Schreiner W, Rapprich S, Rzany B, Wiegering A. Hyperhidrosis: prevalence, diagnosis, and stepwise treatment. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2026;123(9):253-260. doi:10.3238/arztebl.m2025.0229 (opens in a new tab)
- Lai YC, Yew YW, Kennedy C, Schwartz RA. Vitiligo and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Br J Dermatol. 2017;177(3):708-718. doi:10.1111/bjd.15199 (opens in a new tab)
- Bonamonte D, Vestita M, Romita P, and colleagues. Chemical leukoderma. Dermatitis. 2016;27(3):90-99. doi:10.1097/DER.0000000000000167 (opens in a new tab)
- VA disability compensation rates (opens in a new tab), effective December 1, 2025
- Skin Diseases DBQ guide
- El-Amin, court opinion (opens in a new tab)
- McClain, court opinion (opens in a new tab)
- Copeland, court opinion (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.303, service connection (opens in a new tab)