Herniated Discs and Bulging Discs After a Car Accident

One of the most common injuries suffered in car accidents, and especially in the rear-end accidents is disc herniation and disc bulges. Most injured people who are diagnosed with herniated discs or bulging discs have back pain or neck pain prompting the MRI scan that detects the problem.  MRI scan of the back is currently the most commonly performed test to evaluate for herniated discus. MRI scan can distort the degree of herniation or a bulge, but generally provides excellent images of the anatomy of the back and neck.  One issue, however, is that MRI scan findings may not correlate well with the patient's pain complaints and may not, for instance, always explain why a bulging/herniated disc in the back area causes pain in the person's leg. The treatment of bulging discus and herniated discs condition is typically a combination of anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy or exercise, and muscle relaxors. Chiropractic treatment is generally accepted as helpful treatment for low back pain. Alternatively, a patient may be advised to undergo a surgical intervention to remove bulging or herniated discs, if the pain and the overall condition requires such a procedure.

Disc surgery is often successful at reducing pain resulting from having herniated discs. However, studies comparing the effectiveness of surgical v. non-surgical treatment of disc conditions demonstrate mixed results, and surgery should not always be the first option, even though it might be encouraged by a particular doctors, as sometimes the motivations of doctors to perform a surgery are less than noble and are in large part driven by billing your insurance company. This means, that seeking at least one second opinion from another competent and reputable doctor as to the need for surgery is a very good idea. 

If you plan on having a surgery in a foreseeable future, it's very important that either you or your attorney obtain a letter from a potential surgeon about the cost and the nature of the surgery and the treatment will need during recovery in order to maximize the settlement of your injury claim or a court award, if you case goes to trial. 

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