Episode 9: What Not To Say At A C&P Exam

This episode breaks down What Not To Say At A C&P Exam and how the way you communicate can make or break your VA disability claim. 

In this episode, we cover:

• Why saying “I’m fine” or “today is a good day” can work against you
• How downplaying pain, flare-ups, and bad days can lower your rating
• The difference between telling the truth and underselling your condition
• Why real-life examples matter more than one-word answers
• How to explain limitations clearly so the examiner understands the impact

This episode helps you understand the mistakes that can hurt your claim so you can avoid downplaying your condition, explain your symptoms clearly during the exam, and build a stronger claim. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Denied, delayed, underrated? That's the story for too many veterans, including me. Hey veterans and the families listening in, welcome. My name is Robert Pinero. I'm a Marine Combat Veteran and the founder of Veterans Educating Veterans. I've served two tours in Iraq, and like many veterans, I know how hard it is to get service connected and navigate the VA system. After service, I was frustrated, in pain, and told no more times than I can count. Even by VA attorneys. So instead of giving up, I decided to learn the VA process myself. That's what Veterans Educating Veterans is built on. We educate and guide veterans through the VA compensation process, step by step, helping you understand how the system works so you can move forward with confidence, not confusion. I do this work alongside my wife Jillian and for our two daughters because our families live with the impact of service long after the uniform comes off. You deserve the benefits you've earned, not just for yourself, but for the family that stands beside you. Welcome to the war room.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

The war room by veterans educating veterans.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Every claim is different, so don't take this as an individual guidance. Alright, welcome back to another War Room episode. Uh today I have with me James. Hey guys, Cody. How's it going? And Jesse.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

What's up?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

And my name is Robert Pinero, founder and CEO of Veterans Educating Veterans. So today's topic is a lot of veterans walk into a CMP exam and mess it up. Let's call that what it is, guys. So this is one of the biggest places that claims go wrong or they get weakened. So a lot of veterans don't lie at the exam. They actually do the opposite. They undersell what is going on. Okay, the exam is not the place to be vague, casual, or tough. Um, today we want to talk about what veterans say that hurts them and how to explain the symptoms the right way. So let's start off with why veterans downplay their own conditions in the first place.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

So a lot of these veterans are just used to pushing through being a team player. They don't want to go to sick call bandits, they don't want to be looking like they're weak. Um, so a lot of times when they go to the exams after the fact, when they file for these claims, they have that same mentality and and framework um ingrained into them. Um so some of them just don't want to be labeled and and uh looked down, looked down upon as weak. They don't go to medical, they don't go to the doctors a lot. They're not used to talking to their doctor and being open with them. And that's a lot of things, you know, it goes wrong, especially in a CMP exam. It's not the place to bottle it up, um, to not express how this affects your day-to-day life. Um, you know, they've they they look at, well, I I'm I'm dealing with it, so it's not that big of a problem, but it is in in retrospect. You you shouldn't have to have these worst days, these bad days that can be completely debilitating at times. Um we're always beating a dead horse about uh the back issues, but when your back goes out and you literally call out of work for days or go to the ER because you can't move, but when you go to your CMP exam two months later, you're you just you don't talk about that. You're like, oh, it's not too bad because today it's not. But two months ago you were laid up in the ER because you couldn't walk. Don't do that.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

Yeah, and those symptoms don't just go away. Just just because you had them one day and they're they're gone for that time and that moment when you go to the CMP exam, that's the time that you need to talk about that day that was horrible. So when you go in there and your your pain might be manageable or whatever the case is, but the day before you you couldn't even bend over or or sleep at night due to the pain. Um, that's the stuff you need to talk about. And you hear it all the time where you know they go in there and you think you're fine socially, but you're actually isolating or you're you're constantly staying away from your family and your friends. Um but you're you're not relaying that to the doctors. That that's one of the biggest things. So you just have to be if you have to be vulnerable for a day, make it that day when you're talking to the doctor. You can't leave stuff out. Um, they want to know about the worst day that you've had. Um so you you just can't leave anything on the table. Um, so when you're bringing this stuff up, bring all of it up. If it's for one day, make it one day. Um, so I think that's one of the biggest things.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yeah, a lot of veterans are are so used to adapting to um that they stop realizing how bad it actually is.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

So the issue is not being dramatic, the issue is making sure that the exam reflects reality. Right. So now let's talk about the difference between exaggerating and actually telling the full truth.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah, for sure, Robert. Um the goal is definitely not to overstate the symptoms or over-exaggerate them. It's just to explain them or articulate them to the doctor as a tough one. Um, to the doctor to make sure that they they fully get the full picture of how this affects your day-to-day life. You know, rather that be, you know, how it affects your range of motion, the severity, the flare-ups, um, your daily activities, your work, depending on what it could be, either mental or physical ailments that you're looking at, especially the mental, you know, uh the people do not want to be labeled with that. And so that's a big, big one that they definitely bottle up and shut down and do not want to express the daily life examples that they can have and how how it affects them.

SPEAKER_04 6:12

Yeah, absolutely. Um, one of the things that you don't want to go in there and do as well, I guess the opposite of that is give these one-word, two-word responses, right? Go in there, doc asks you like what's going on. You say, you know, my back hurts, or whatever the case is. You want to be able to explain how that's actually affecting you. Like, if it's standing long periods of time you can't do anymore, um, walking, lifting, sitting, playing with your kids, how how it's affecting you and what you can no longer can no longer do, that's what they need to hear about. Um, instead of like, I have anxiety, they want to hear about, you know, it's it's affecting your sleep, it's affecting your your focus, you're being able to focus at work, or you're having anger issues or panic attacks, or uh you're avoiding certain things. Basically, you want to be able to explain all of that and not just go on there, I have anxiety. Because that's where you're gonna run into a CMP examiner who's they're not it's not gonna go in your favor. Um, you need to avoid things like I'm okay. You know, today's a good day, I'm I'm fine today. Like that, that's it's not going to bode well. You need to talk about what you've been experiencing over the past year essentially. Your your worst times.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Well, that's one example, the the spatial disorientation that happened to him. He he was sent to go on July 4th, he was sent to go buy um some hot dogs and hamburgers and to go to the meat store, and he actually, you know, was was going there and forgot and he just kept driving and he drove past there 30 minutes and then he calling his wife saying, Why did I even leave the house? Like he's just like um he just didn't understand that he was gonna go to the meat store and then uh he just completely spaced it out. And he he didn't even um and that's that's like that's a real life example of um that can help you in a CMP exam instead of just some like a straight answer, like, oh I get lost all the time. Or key details.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

So I also just want to back up a little bit. Um just understand that at times when these exams are being conducted, there is the doctor is what's filling out a disability benefit questionnaire, also known as DBQ. And one of the things that I've realized on the DBQ is that it actually says when you're actually talking about flare-ups, is it actually says, Did the veteran report flare-ups? So don't expect the doctor to ask you. Right? Because he's going to he's going to check off no if you didn't report it. Yeah. Because he's gonna take the question literal. Like he's not gonna ask you if you had flare-ups, he's gonna he's gonna do what the disability benefit questionnaire asks him. Um, and this is the games that the VA plays, and you definitely want to look at the DBQ. This is one advice from me is you actually want to look at the DBQ before you go to exam. We actually uh prep our clients, meaning that we give them the questions that they answered for us, and we give them that, and we tell them to go over it and to remember the worst day that they had. And that's how we prep them. So if you have any questions about that, you can also reach out to us and we can take a look at your claim and also give you some advice according to that. Now, the exam is one part of the claim, but it can shape the entire result of it. Um, we've seen this over and over on claims how one bad exam just ruins your entire claim. So, this is why the way veterans explain themselves matters so much. So, let's talk about why the wording at the exam can affect the entire case.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

For sure. Um the verbiage that you utilize and express to these examiners and how they articulate it on the report can absolutely reflect your rating. If you talk about constant pain, pain, pain, pain, pain for your back, shoulders, and knees, but don't actually talk about what limitations that pain causes and functionality, it can only go so far.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

So, quick question for you can I use the word hurt?

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I would, but there's definitely other ones that you could use that would be more um strengthen your your claim and to help uh articulate that hey, this symptom is is as bad as as you're claiming it to be. Um so yeah, your knee is hurt, but you can also talk about functionality loss of that knee on on days when it's cold and it swells up and you can't get up the stairs. Um, yes, it's painful, but that pain limits your your you being able to stand, or you be able to go up the stairs, or you be able to bend down, or functionality loss is the biggest thing that you really want to show to these doctors.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

So I I actually, when I coached, I would not I would tell them don't use the word hurt. Okay. Um because I used the word hurt on one of my exams. And when I got the CMP back and started reviewing it, they never put the word hurt in. And they caught me on technicalities that I needed to use the word pain. And these are these the really sometimes the dumb games that these examiners play. And let's call it what it is. There's tons and tons of video online that talk about these horrible stories on these exams. Yeah, and using the right verbiage because pain alone, right, can get you 10% for your claim if you don't use the word pain and you were use the word hurt.

SPEAKER_04 12:17

The fact is you did get hurt while in the military that's causing you this pain. But the fact is you said hurt is ridiculous that they do that. But that's just one case, like you said, that they're using anything and everything. That's why you have to be prepped for these and and know what you're gonna say, and know that you need to, like you said, use your daily life limitations, explain those and what you're you're experiencing every day with these disabilities.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Especially if it's a new condition that you're claiming for the first time, or even a supplemental, you're trying to get service connected, increases one aspect of it. But um, service connection, if you don't go in there strong with the evidence and talk about the originality of the of the injury in service, and this is why you're having problems still, and this injury that you sustain there, if you start rambling about things that can't be proven, again, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove, and the medical evidence is proof, and the nexus is the proof, and the diagnosis is the proof, it's never gonna go in your favor. So definitely don't talk about just random fluff that's not gonna help.

SPEAKER_04 13:29

Stay on topic, exactly on topic with what you're going through.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

And mental health, I know I haven't really hit on that, is a big, big one that can be very, very difficult, especially um with these new claims or even increased services for sure. Because you can physically show your limitations, especially on your worst day. Mental, you have to elaborate those symptoms, and that can be very, very difficult to anybody to do to a stranger in a room, and you know that hey, my rating depends on this, you can get extremely nervous and forgetful and and and and overthink everything.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Oh, yeah, absolutely. The exam is not to play sag tough, you know, go in there, um, express your what what your daily daily symptoms are, uh, and and you know, just be still tell the truth, you know, what's going on with you.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

So veterans don't need to exaggerate, um, but they don't need to stop minimizing what is really happening, right? So a strong claim can be weak and fast if the exam doesn't reflect real life. Tell the truth, but tell the full truth. Thank you for joining us. Like, subscribe, and give us any topics you want us to talk about. Till the next one.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

The War Room by Veterans Educating Veterans.