How to document blast exposure for a VA claim

By Continuum Improvement · Updated 2026-07-03

Many veterans were exposed to blast and overpressure — from IEDs, breaching, artillery, heavy weapons, or repeated training blasts — without ever being formally evaluated for it at the time. Years later, symptoms like headaches, memory trouble, sleep problems, ringing in the ears, and mood changes can be hard to connect back to that exposure. Good documentation is what turns "I think something's wrong" into a clear record a clinician can work with.

Why documentation matters

Memory fades, and units move on. The details that matter — roughly when and where an exposure happened, how close you were, what you felt afterward — are easiest to capture while you still remember them, or with the help of buddies who were there. Organized notes help in two ways: they give a doctor context for your symptoms, and they give you a consistent story to tell rather than trying to reconstruct it under pressure.

What to write down about exposures

For each blast or overpressure event you can recall, try to capture:

• Approximate date and location — even a month and a deployment is useful
• Source — IED, mortar, artillery, breaching charge, heavy weapon, training, etc.
• Distance — how far you were from the blast, as best you can estimate
• What happened to you — knocked down, dazed, ears rang, briefly lost awareness, "saw stars"
• Whether you were evaluated — and if not, note that too
• Witnesses — anyone who was there who could confirm it

You don't need precision. A reasonable estimate written down beats a perfect memory you never recorded.

What to track about symptoms

Symptoms are the other half of the picture. Note what you experience and roughly how often and how badly. Common ones associated with blast-related brain injury include:

• Headaches
• Memory or concentration problems
• Trouble sleeping
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) or hearing changes
• Dizziness or balance issues
• Irritability, anxiety, or mood changes
• Sensitivity to light or noise

Tracking symptoms over time — rather than trying to remember them at a single appointment — gives a doctor much more to work with.

Gather supporting records

Where you can, pull together anything that corroborates your history:

• Service records, deployment history, and unit information
• Any in-service medical encounters, even minor ones
• Buddy statements from people who witnessed events
• Your own dated notes and symptom log

Then talk to the right people

Documentation is preparation, not a substitute for professional help. Once you've organized your history:

• Talk to a doctor about your symptoms — they can evaluate you properly.
• Consider a VA-accredited representative or a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) for help with a claim. Their help is generally free, and they know the process.

Where the Calculator fits

Our Veteran TBI Risk Calculator is a private tool that helps you do exactly the organizing described above: log your exposures and symptoms in plain language and generate a clean, one-page summary you can bring to a doctor. It is not a diagnosis and not a medical device — it is a way to walk into an appointment organized instead of trying to remember everything on the spot.