I just received my C & P exam report and was hoping someone could help me out! I am getting boarded for bilateral hip strain and my range of motion was marked as Normal, however, the doc marked that pain was noted but did not cause functional lose. He said during the exam that I was limited in all areas and I agreed and was in a lot of pain!?!? I don't know why he marked normal!!?!? He marked pain for all areas on the form, will I get the minimum rating at least since there was pain noted? Thanks for any input.
Yes.
Painful Motion (§4.59): This is the most commonly used principle. Basically, regardless of how much the service member can move his knee (or any joint), if it hurts when he moves it, then he will get at least the lowest compensable rating for the knee–for example, 10% (money) instead of 0% (no money). Pain with motion must be clearly documented by the physician in order for this principle to apply. Just because the service member may say that his knee hurts at the beginning of the exam does not mean that the physician will find proof of pain with motion.
It is pretty rare to have any reproducible chronic and permanent loss of motion. Most motion loss is so small it is not really measurable and is largely irrelevant to function. As an example, look at the Air Force regulation on how much motion you need to lose in the knee until an MEB is required. If you are up to 15 degrees away from being able to straighten your knee, and if you can at least bend the knee 90 degs, there is no MEB obligation. That being said, a loss of that much motion would be wildly functionally disabling, making things like toileting, stairs, and walking extremely challenging.
