What to Know about a Herniated Disc Personal Injury Claim
Car accidents are responsible for thousands of injuries every year. A herniated disc may occur during a car accident when the force of the crash causes a vertebra to push into the spinal canal. This can put pressure on or irritate the spinal cord, causing pain to radiate throughout the body. If you or a loved one experienced a herniated disc after a car accident that is disrupting your life, you deserve to be made whole. Contact a local herniated disc lawyer as soon as possible to discuss whether a herniated disc personal injury claim is the right option for you.
What is a herniated disc?
Spinal discs are circles of tissue that sit in between the vertebrae of the spinal column for the purpose of holding the vertebrae together, acting as shock absorbers, and assisting with motion.
Herniated discs, also called slipped, bulged, or ruptured discs, occur when a fragment of a spinal disc is pushed out of place into the spinal canal through a tear or rupture in the annulus fibrosus. The result is typically a shooting pain felt in the areas of the body whose nerves are connected to the area of the spine where the disc herniation occurred. These are serious injuries that can result in chronic pain or weakness.
What to Know about a Herniated Disc Personal Injury Claim
In a car accident, the most common type of herniated disc injury is to the neck as it whips back and forth during the collision. The most commonly injured vertebrae are the C4-C5 and C5-C6 pairs, which often results in nerve root impingement and muscle weakness and sometimes numbness, tingling, and radiating pain. Other symptoms may include stiffness and restricted range of motion.
Because spinal discs are invisible on an x-ray, herniated disc injuries are rarely diagnosed in an emergency room after a car accident. A patient would need to request a CT scan or MRI in order to get a diagnosis and an eventual injury settlement for a herniated disc. If you begin experiencing any symptoms of herniated disc after an accident, go to your primary care doctor or an urgent care clinic to request an MRI.
Even with an MRI, it can be very difficult to prove the amount and type of pain that a person is experiencing from a herniated disc and insurance companies know this. They will use the challenges in proving symptoms from this type of injury against claimants to deny or undervalue claims. If your herniated disc claim is being denied or undervalued, it is very important to seek the help of an experienced herniated disk injury lawyer who can gather evidence about the way the injury has impacted your life, the expenses you have incurred as a result of the injury, and fight back against insurance injury tactics.
Can I collect a herniated disc settlement if I have a pre-existing spinal injury?
While pre-existing injuries can make injury claims more complicated, it is not impossible for car accident lawyers to overcome these challenges to win favorable settlements for their clients. It is common for insurance adjusters to point to pre-existing health conditions such as osteoarthritis as a way to claim that the pain the claimant is experiencing could not have been triggered by the herniated disc suffered in the accident caused by their client. A personal injury lawyer will work to establish that the victim’s injuries and pain are not being caused by the previously diagnosed degenerative condition but by the trauma they sustained in the accident.
What is the value of a herniated disc personal injury claim?
There is a huge range of normal for personal injury claims because the settlement is always based on the particular circumstances in the case. The median value of a herniated disc injury settlement is $70,000-$90,000 but settlements can be much higher or lower depending on the severity of the injuries, the amount and cost of the treatment required as well as the lost wages and pain and suffering endured. For example, a case that requires back surgery where the injured party is off of work for several months to recover will be worth more than a case where symptoms can be alleviated with physical therapy and pain medication.
Seek the help of a car accident lawyer
If you or a loved one was injured in a collision because of the negligence of another, contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your legal rights. Let an experienced car accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times larger with the help of a lawyer. Call the personal injury lawyers at Tario & Associates, P.S. in Bellingham, WA today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing residents of Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
