Rating Criteria by Level
Under 38 CFR 4.118, DC 7806, dermatitis and eczema are evaluated on a four-level scale. The criteria were substantially revised in August 2018 to clarify that topical treatment is not systemic therapy. Each level below states the coverage test and the therapy test: you only need to satisfy one of them to earn that rating.
Criteria: Less than 5 percent of the entire body affected and less than 5 percent of exposed areas affected, with no more than topical therapy required over the past 12-month period.
A 0% rating is non-compensable, meaning no monthly payment. It still establishes service connection, which protects your right to file for an increase when the condition worsens and to claim secondary conditions without relitigating the original nexus. Many eczema claims land here simply because the exam happened during a quiet period.
Criteria: At least 5 percent but less than 20 percent of the entire body, or at least 5 percent but less than 20 percent of exposed areas affected, or intermittent systemic therapy required for a total duration of less than 6 weeks over the past 12-month period.
The exposed-area measurement matters here. Exposed areas are the head, face, neck, and hands. Eczema on both hands alone can exceed 5 percent of exposed surface even when total body involvement is small, and the VA is required to use whichever figure produces the higher rating.
Criteria: 20 to 40 percent of the entire body or 20 to 40 percent of exposed areas affected, or systemic therapy required for a total duration of 6 weeks or more, but not constantly, over the past 12-month period.
This is the most contested level in eczema claims. The 6-week systemic therapy pathway is independent of body coverage: repeated prednisone tapers, a course of methotrexate, or a run of phototherapy sessions totaling more than 6 weeks in a year meets the standard even if your skin was largely clear at the exam. Pharmacy fill records are the strongest proof.
Most contested level: 6+ weeks of systemic therapy qualifies on its own
Criteria: More than 40 percent of the entire body or more than 40 percent of exposed areas affected, or constant or near-constant systemic therapy required over the past 12-month period.
The maximum schedular rating under DC 7806. Veterans on maintenance biologics such as dupilumab, or on continuous immunosuppressants like cyclosporine or methotrexate, generally satisfy the near-constant systemic therapy criterion regardless of how much skin is currently involved. Document every prescription refill across the full 12-month lookback.
How to Service-Connect Eczema
Service connection requires three things: a current diagnosis, an in-service event or exposure, and a medical nexus linking the two. Skin conditions are connected in three main ways:
Direct Service Connection
Eczema, atopic dermatitis, or contact dermatitis was diagnosed and treated during service. Sick call visits for rashes, dermatology referrals, or a profile limiting field gear or chemical handling are all documentation the rater will accept. Repeated in-service treatment for the same rash is the cleanest evidentiary path.
Environmental and Chemical Exposure
Contact with solvents, fuels, JP-8, industrial cleaners, or burn pit particulates can trigger chronic dermatitis. Deployment to a PACT Act covered location or a Southwest Asia theater tour supporting a Gulf War undiagnosed illness claim both open exposure-based routes. Chloracne specifically is an Agent Orange presumptive.
Secondary Service Connection
Stress is a well-documented eczema trigger, so flares tied to service-connected PTSD, anxiety, or depression can support a secondary claim. Medications for other service-connected conditions that cause drug eruptions or dermatitis are another recognized basis.
What Happens at Your C&P Exam
The VA will schedule a compensation and pension exam using the skin diseases DBQ. For eczema, the examiner will typically:
- Visually inspect and estimate the percentage of total body surface affected
- Separately estimate the percentage of exposed areas (head, face, neck, hands) affected
- Record every treatment used in the past 12 months and classify each as topical or systemic
- Note the total number of weeks systemic therapy was required during the lookback period
- Document scarring and disfigurement or functional limitation that may warrant a separate rating
- Ask about flare frequency, triggers, and whether the condition is currently active
Bring dated photographs from your worst flares, a printed pharmacy history showing every fill over the past 12 months, and your dermatologist notes. If your skin is clear on exam day, say so explicitly and point the examiner to the photographs and refill records, because a remission-period exam is the single most common reason eczema claims come back at 0%.
Secondary Conditions to Eczema
Once eczema is service-connected, you can file secondary claims for conditions it caused or worsened. Each carries its own rating that adds into your combined total.
Depression / AnxietyVisible, chronic, itchy skin disease is strongly associated with mood and anxiety disorders. Rated 0 to 100% on the mental disorders scale.
Chronic InsomniaNocturnal itching disrupts sleep architecture. Often rated within a mental health evaluation rather than separately.
Scars and DisfigurementPainful, unstable, or disfiguring scars from chronic scratching and infection are rated separately under DC 7800 to 7805.
Skin InfectionsBroken skin from scratching invites recurrent cellulitis and staph infections, which can support an increased or separate evaluation.
Asthma and Allergic RhinitisAtopic dermatitis travels with the rest of the atopic triad. See our pages on asthma and rhinitis for those rating criteria.
The atopic conditions frequently claimed alongside eczema have their own pages: asthma and allergic rhinitis. Sinus involvement is covered on the sinusitis page.
SourcesLast reviewed: July 2026
Eczema VA Rating FAQ
What is the VA rating for eczema?
The VA rates eczema and dermatitis under diagnostic code 7806 at 0%, 10%, 30%, or 60%. The rating is set by whichever is higher: the percentage of your total body or exposed areas affected, or the amount of systemic therapy required over the past 12 months. 10% pays $180.42/month, 30% pays $552.47/month, and 60% pays $1,435.02/month at 2026 rates.
Do topical steroid creams count as systemic therapy?
No. In Johnson v. Shulkin (Federal Circuit, 2017), the court held that topical corticosteroids are not systemic therapy under DC 7806, and the 2018 revision wrote that distinction into the regulation. Systemic therapy means treatment affecting the whole body: oral or injected corticosteroids, biologics, methotrexate, cyclosporine, retinoids, phototherapy, or PUVA.
How does the VA measure body surface area for eczema?
The examiner estimates the percentage of the entire body affected and, separately, the percentage of exposed areas (head, face, neck, and hands) affected, then uses the higher figure. The rule of nines is the usual shortcut: each arm about 9 percent, each leg 18 percent, front torso 18 percent, back 18 percent, head 9 percent, and one palm about 1 percent.
Can eczema be rated higher than 60%?
Not under DC 7806, which caps at 60%. The VA can rate by analogy under the scar and disfigurement codes (DC 7800 to 7805) when disfigurement or functional loss dominates, and severe facial disfigurement reaches 80%. Veterans unable to work because of the condition can also pursue TDIU, which pays at the 100% rate.
Is eczema presumptive for Gulf War or Agent Orange veterans?
A chronic, medically unexplained skin condition can qualify as a Gulf War undiagnosed illness presumptive for Southwest Asia theater veterans. Chloracne is the Agent Orange presumptive skin condition and is distinct from ordinary eczema. Burn pit skin claims under the PACT Act are handled directly, so a nexus opinion is usually required.
Should I schedule my C&P exam during a flare-up?
Yes whenever practical. Examinations for conditions with active and inactive stages are supposed to occur during an active stage. An exam performed while your eczema is in remission can yield a 0% rating that misstates your real disability. Submit dated flare-up photographs either way so the record reflects your worst periods.
Can I get separate ratings for eczema and scarring?
Sometimes. If eczema leaves painful or unstable scars, or disfigurement of the head, face, or neck, those can be rated separately under DC 7800 through 7805 as long as the same skin findings are not counted twice. Rating the same patch of skin under two codes would be pyramiding, which 38 CFR 4.14 prohibits.
Can eczema be service-connected as secondary to another condition?
Yes. Eczema is commonly claimed secondary to service-connected mental health conditions, since stress is a documented flare trigger, and secondary to medications taken for other service-connected disabilities. A physician nexus opinion linking the primary condition to the skin condition is what establishes the connection.