Herniated Discs

An injury that results in a herniated disc(s) can have lasting impacts on your life; it can lead to chronic pain in your back or neck. These injuries are common in motor vehicle accidents, but are often not diagnosed immediately.

A herniated disc (also called ruptured disc, protruded disc, prolapsed disc, and slipped disc) is an injury to the soft, spongy disc(s) that sit between each vertebrae of the spine. This injury cannot be seen (or diagnosed) on an x-ray because it is not an injury to the bone. Most emergency departments only take x-rays following a car accident. It can take repeated visits to a physician with treatment being ineffective for your back pain before you are referred to an alternative imaging method (such as an MRI) that can diagnose a herniation.

Car accident victims often will not realize there is a disc injury until weeks or months after a car accident, when all other injuries have healed but neck and/or back pain continues. It is important to seek medical treatment immediately after a car accident and continue to follow up so that physicians can properly diagnose and treat these persisting problems.

Since it can take weeks for you and your treating physicians to realize the full extent of your injuries, it is important to seek legal representation soon after your car accident. Contact our experienced partner Christopher Fleming for a Pennsylvania accident at (215) 567-1530, or call (856) 273-6679 and ask to speak to Greg Sciolla to inquire about a New Jersey accident.