Filing a Sinusitis or Rhinitis Claim

In crisis? Call the Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1. You can also text 838255 or chat online at veteranscrisisline.net. It is free, confidential, and available 24/7.

This is general education, not legal or claims advice, and not guidance for your specific claim. It cannot promise you a rating or an outcome, and no one can. For help with your own claim, see a free accredited representative (see Get free, accredited help below). Nothing here creates a representative relationship.

Current as of October 2026. Rules, forms, and figures change. Check current details at va.gov.

The best way to use this guide

The strongest position is to be your own informed advocate and to work with a free accredited representative. An accredited Veterans Service Organization, such as the DAV, VFW, American Legion, or a county or state veterans office, helps at no charge. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can help too. They can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim, and after that they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide is here so you understand your own situation and can work with them as a full partner instead of handing it over blind. If you'd rather handle this yourself, and you're comfortable doing that, the guide walks you through every step. Either way, you stay in control.

What you'll get done

The outcome: By the end of this guide you'll have filed a chronic sinusitis or rhinitis claim on VA Form 21-526EZ that documents your episodes and, where your service fits, uses the burn pit presumptive path.

This guide prepares you for the task. It doesn't and can't promise a rating, a percentage, or an outcome. The evidence in your file decides the result.

What you need before you start

• A way to get on VA.gov, or VA's main number, 1-800-827-1000.
• A current diagnosis of chronic sinusitis or rhinitis.
• A record of your sinus episodes: how often, how long, how long each antibiotic course ran, and any time a doctor put you on bed rest.
• Your service history, with the countries and dates of any deployment on or after August 2, 1990.
• Any imaging or ENT notes, and, for rhinitis, how blocked your nasal passages are and whether you have polyps.
• Your VA file number, if you have one.

When to start: Today. An Intent to File holds your potential start date for one year while you gather the rest.

Start here: the basics

VA rates chronic sinusitis under Diagnostic Codes 6510 through 6514. The level turns on episodes. An incapacitating episode is one that needs bed rest and treatment by a physician, and the rating counts those that needed a long antibiotic course (four to six weeks). It also counts non-incapacitating episodes with headaches, pain, and pus-like discharge or crusting. Allergic or vasomotor rhinitis is Diagnostic Code 6522, and it turns on how blocked the nasal passages are and whether there are polyps. There's also a presumptive path. Chronic sinusitis and chronic rhinitis are on the PACT Act burn pit list. It isn't about how close you were to a burn pit. It's about where and when you served. This guide prints no percentages. See how these are rated at va.gov.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.97, DCs 6510 to 6514 (General Rating Formula and Note) and 6522; 38 U.S.C. §§ 1119(c) and 1120(b); 38 CFR § 3.320.

The steps

Step 1. File an Intent to File.

This is the same first step as every VA claim. It holds your start date for one year while you gather evidence. How to file an Intent to File, step by step.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.155(b).

Done when you have a confirmation saved.

Step 2. Check the burn pit presumptive path.

How. Compare your service records to the covered places and dates. On or after August 2, 1990: Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or the United Arab Emirates. On or after September 11, 2001: Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan, or Yemen. The airspace above them counts too.

If you served in a covered place and time, then claim chronic sinusitis or rhinitis as a burn pit presumptive. You don't need a link opinion. If you didn't, then claim it directly, with evidence it started in service or was caused by something in service. If it's caused by another service-connected condition, then claim it as secondary.

Where this is written down: 38 U.S.C. §§ 1119(c) and 1120; 38 CFR §§ 3.303 and 3.310.

Done when you know which path fits your service.

Step 3. Document your sinus episodes the way VA counts them.

How. For each episode, note the dates, your symptoms (headaches, pain, pus-like discharge or crusting), the antibiotic and how many weeks it ran, and whether a doctor ordered bed rest. Get the doctor visits into your medical records, because that's where VA looks.

Do not count days you stayed home on your own as incapacitating episodes. VA counts bed rest with treatment by a physician.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.97, General Rating Formula for Sinusitis, Note.

Done when you have a record of each episode, its antibiotic course, and any doctor-ordered bed rest.

Step 4. Pin down the rhinitis details if they apply.

How. For rhinitis, ask your provider to record how blocked each side of your nose is and whether you have polyps. If the rhinitis isn't allergic or vasomotor, VA may use a different rhinitis code.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.97, DCs 6522 to 6524.

Done when your records state the blockage on each side and whether polyps are present.

Step 5. Line up a medical link if you're not on the presumptive path.

How. For a direct or secondary claim, the file needs an opinion on whether the condition is "at least as likely as not" related to service or to the other service-connected condition. VA usually gets that at the exam, and you can also send one from your own provider.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.159(c)(4).

Done when you have the opinion your claim needs, or you know VA will get one.

Step 6. File the 21-526EZ and name your path.

How. List sinusitis, rhinitis, or both, each on its own line, and say whether you're claiming it as a burn pit presumptive (with your place and dates), direct, or secondary. Attach your episode records and imaging. File online at va.gov/disability/file-disability-claim-form-21-526ez, or mail it with tracking to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Done when the claim names each condition and your path, and you've kept proof of filing.

Step 7. Go to the exam and confirm your file.

How. At the exam, describe your episodes, antibiotic courses, any doctor-ordered bed rest, and how it affects work and sleep. About 10 days after filing, check va.gov/claim-or-appeal-status or call 1-800-827-1000 to make sure everything is in your file.

Do not skip the exam. If you can't make it, call before the appointment to reschedule. Without good cause, VA decides a first claim on what's already in the file.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.655(b).

Done when the exam is done and you've confirmed your documents are on file.

Recap checklist

• Filed an Intent to File and saved the confirmation.
• Checked my service against the burn pit places and dates.
• Documented each episode, its antibiotic course, and any doctor-ordered bed rest.
• Recorded nasal blockage and polyps for rhinitis.
• Lined up a medical link where the presumption didn't apply.
• Filed the 21-526EZ naming each condition and my path.
• Went to the exam and confirmed my file.

Reminder: rules and rates change. Check any current figure at va.gov. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide prepared you for the task. The evidence in your file decides the result.

Go further

• The book: The PACT Act Playbook, the full guide this one comes from. Coming soon as a PDF on this site and in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
• The workbook: The PACT Act Toxic Exposure Claim Workbook, a fillable PDF. Coming soon.
• Free toolkit: the worksheets that go with The PACT Act Playbook. No signup.

Get free, accredited help

For anything about your own claim, talk to an accredited representative. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Free help is available through Veterans Service Organizations such as the DAV, VFW, and American Legion, and through county and state veterans offices.

To find one near you, visit va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative. Representation begins only when you sign VA Form 21-22 (for a Veterans Service Organization) or 21-22a (for an individual agent or attorney). With one rare exception for a single unpaid case, only accredited people can represent you before the VA, and only an accredited agent or attorney can charge you a fee. Nothing in this guide creates that relationship.

A warning about claim sharks. Anyone who offers to file your initial claim for a fee, or who guarantees you a rating or a percentage, is selling something you shouldn't buy. Accredited Veterans Service Organizations help at no charge, and accredited claims agents and attorneys may charge only after VA issues its initial decision, within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Report predatory companies to the VA Office of Inspector General at 1-800-488-8244.

About this guide

This guide is education, not representation. It explains how part of the VA system works so you can handle your own business with confidence. It is not legal or claims advice, and reading it does not create any representative relationship between you and the author. The author is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nothing here is endorsed by the VA.

This guide prints no live VA dollar figures and no rating percentages on purpose, because they change. Before you make a decision based on any number, check the current figure at va.gov. No book can promise you a rating; the evidence in your file decides the result. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Officer is always free.

Details

• PDF, US Letter, 8 pages including the cover
• 13 fillable checkboxes
• Current as of October 2026

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Never a cut of your claim.

About the author: J. Erickson is a service-disabled Air Force veteran. He served as a military firefighter and as a veteran service officer, where he spent years walking veterans through the same claims process he writes about now. He holds an MBA and writes plain-language guides for veterans who want to understand the system without a translator.