Persistent inflammation of the frontal sinuses located in the forehead.
Medical records that document the frequency and severity of your sinusitis episodes are central to establishing your rating level. For the higher ratings, records showing radical surgery, a diagnosis of chronic osteomyelitis, or repeated surgeries with ongoing symptoms would be relevant. Physician notes confirming near-constant headaches, pain, tenderness over the frontal sinus, and purulent discharge or crusting support a 50% rating.
For the 30% and 10% levels, treatment records that show how many episodes occurred in a year and whether each required prolonged antibiotic courses of four to six weeks are key. Records confirming that an episode required bed rest and physician-directed treatment establish that it was incapacitating under the regulation's definition. For non-incapacitating episodes, notes documenting headaches, pain, and purulent discharge or crusting with a count of episodes per year are useful. Imaging such as X-rays or CT scans can document the presence of disease, and at minimum support a 0% rating if no other symptoms are recorded.
Conditions that are often caused or made worse by this one. If you have any of these, they may be claimable as secondary service connection.
