When an injury causes both grip loss and atrophy, which rating applies?

• A. Combine the ratings
• B. Only the greater of the two
• C. Only the lessor of the two
• D. Both the grip loss and the atrophy

Answer: (D)

When an injury creates more than one impairment in the same part of the body, you rate each impairment separately. Grip loss and atrophy represent distinct functional losses: grip loss reflects reduced strength in grasp, while atrophy reflects muscle wasting that can further limit hand function. They’re not the same measure, and one can’t fully capture the disability by picking just one. Therefore, both impairments receive their own ratings. In practice, those ratings are then combined to form an overall impairment, but the key point is that both grip loss and atrophy are separately evaluated.