Herniated Disk Lawyer Philadelphia Pennsylvania

In their lifetime, 70 percent of people in the U.S. will have some kind of back pain. About 25 percent of these people have a herniated disk. A herniated, or slipped, disk occurs when all or part of a disk in the spine is forced through a weakened part of the disk. This places pressure on nearby nerves. The bones (vertebrae) of the spinal column protect nerves that come out of the brain and travel down the back to form the spinal cord. Nerve roots are large nerves that branch out from the spinal cord and leave your spinal column between each vertebrae.

The spinal bones are separated by disks. These disks cushion the spinal column and put space between the vertebrae. The disks allow movement between the vertebrae, which lets a person bend and reach.

These disks may move out of place (herniate) or break open (rupture) from injury or strain. When this happens, there may be pressure on the spinal nerves. This can lead to pain, numbness, or weakness.

The lower back (lumbar area) of the spine is the most common area for a slipped disk. The neck (cervical) disks are affected less frequently. The upper-to-mid-back (thoracic) disks are rarely involved.

Radiologist and surgeons use various terms for disk problems: herniated disk, ruptured disk, protruded disk, prolapsed disk, and slipped disk. If you have any of these conditions, you most likely have a disk that has been displaced backwards and is pressing on a nerve root or roots resulting in excruciating pain.

Herniated Disks are Rarely Diagnosed Immediately After a Car Accident

When a car accident victim is brought to the hospital, physicians usually only order x-rays to get a general view of your spinal column to see if there are any fractures. A herniated disk will not show up on X-ray tests, because spinal disks are primarily made of the soft tissue collagen while x-ray tests only show bones. To detect herniated disks, the medical provider should take a CT scan or MRI of your cervical (neck) spinal column or lumber (lower back) spinal column.

Often, a car accident victims will not realize that he or she has a herniated disk for several weeks, or even months later when all other injuries have healed but the neck or back pain continues to worsen instead of get better. It is not unusual for a physician to first diagnose the patient as having cervical strain, whiplash, or lumbar strain initially.

Pain is the biggest problem with herniated disk. Pain may radiate through the body stemming from where the disk is pinching the nerve. The pain often starts as simple back pain and then moves to the legs. Sometimes, the pain can be so great that it requires surgical treatment. Herniated disk injury may significantly affect a person's lifestyle and work. Some people may not be able to bend over, pick up a child or a bag of groceries without excruciating pain. The treatment depends on the severity of the injury and individual characteristics of the patient.

Treatment: The first treatment for a slipped disk is rest with pain medications, followed by physical therapy. Many people with minor herniated disk injury will recover and return to their normal activities if follow traditional treatments. Some, however, will need to have more treatment, which may include steroid injections or surgery.

Steroid injections into the back in the area of the herniated disk may help control pain for several months. These injections reduce swelling around the disk and relieve many symptoms. Surgery may be required if symptoms do not resolve following other treatments.

Complications of Herniated Disks: Herniated disks may lead to a more serious disease called radiculopathy, which affects the spinal nerve roots. Herniated disks may also cause long-term pain, loss of movement or feeling in the legs or feet, loss of bowel and bladder function, and, in sever cases, permanent spinal cord injury and loss of nerve function below the area of compression, including loss of bowel and bladder control.

What Causes Herniation?

According to a medical journal from the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch, workplace injuries and car accidents are the most frequent causes of disk herniations. Usually herniation is associated with sudden violent motion of the spine. During a car accident the motorist's spine undergoes extreme sudden and violent motions which damage the spine.

How Can A Lawyer Help?

The herniated disk injury lawyers at the Lassen Law Firm have successfully tried a number of herniated disk cases and have achieved high settlements for their clients. The Lassen Law Firm has recently settled a herniated disk injury case resulting from a motor vehicle accident. The client sustained 2 herniated disks as a result of the collision. Doctors tried traction, steroid injections, therapy and, eventually, surgery. The surgery alleviated the pain, but did not eliminate it. He will have to live in constant pain for the rest of his life. When the insurance company refused to settle the case for the full and fair amount, the personal injury lawyers at the Lassen Law Firm took the case to court and litigated it before a jury winning a $340,000 verdict. If you have been in a car accident and sustained herniated disk injury, please call the Lassen Law Firm for a free consultation. We will provide you with guidance and legal advice and point you in the right direction to recovery.

Personal Injury Lawyer Pennsylvania

Negotiating a herniated disk injury case may present several problems, the most complicated of which is a preexisting injury, such as spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and spondylolisthesis.

Lawyers defending personal injury cases on behalf of the insurance companies involving herniated disks always attempt to show that it is the plaintiff's preexisting degenerative problems with the spine, and not the trauma that caused the herniated disk.

An experienced herniated disk injury lawyer knows how to establish that the plaintiff's problems are not due to the degenerative condition, but to the trauma sustained in the accident. The Lassen Law Firm, Philadelphia herniated disk lawyers, have the legal tools to help you win your herniated disk injury case. We work closely with doctors, orthopedists, spine surgeons and medical experts who evaluate clients' injuries and identify the cause of injury. If you have a herniated disk as a result of the workplace injury or a car accident, you may be entitled to recovery for your injuries and losses. Although the average herniated disc injury award is $340,000.00, our firm typically works these cases up better than other firms and typically recovers more.

The Lassen Law Firm only deducts a 29% contingency fee, not the standard 45% like other firms. We serve ALL of Pennsylvania. We can sign you up over the phone and start working on your case today.

Herniated Disc - Herniated Disk Settlements and Verdicts in Pennsylvania

Car crash in Philadelphia (herniated disk) $390,000.00

Bus accident in Pennsylvania (bulging disc) $150,000.00

Box truck accident in Pennsylvania (herniated disc) $356,000.00

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Authored by: Christian Lassen