A slip and fall herniated disc is a common litigation scenario in which a person falls down and apparently suffers a disc injury. Like other types of herniated discs which are theorized to result from falls, many of these patients already have the herniated disc, but do not know it, since the disc is unlikely to be the source of chronic pain or neurological symptoms. Since it was never previously discovered, the herniation is blamed on the fall upon diagnostic testing, regardless of whether it was the actual cause or not.
Of course, this is not to say that a serious fall can not source a herniation, for it certainly can. However, without previous recent imaging of the same area, it is virtually impossible to tell if a disc condition was preexisting or a direct result of the falling down incident.
This article examines how slip and fall occurrences can enact intervertebral prolapse conditions.
Slip and Fall Herniated Disc Challenges
It is very possible for a serious fall to actually cause a bulging disc. However, without previous diagnostic testing, it is impossible to be sure. Many people have lumbar herniated discs and some have cervical herniated discs for many years without knowing it. They do not have any pain, so there would be no reason for MRI testing. However, once pain occurs due to the trauma of the fall, testing unveils the herniation and it is assumed to have just occurred. Despite the many cases in which herniations have shown clear evidence of existing for a long time, these circumstances are often ignored in order to better serve litigation scenarios.
For patients who do actually suffer a disc injury from the fall, it is unlikely that they will suffer more than a few weeks worth of pain. However, if they allow some herniated disc lawyer and their puppet doctors to get hold of them, statistics show that they will likely get paid, but possibly at the cost of their health and possible future functionality.
Slip and Falls Can Cause Disc Injury
Falls can and do cause disc injuries. However, injuries heal and should not be the source of lasting back pain in most circumstances. Patients who do demonstrate chronic herniated disc pain are often misdiagnosed. In these cases, the disc may be a scapegoat which conceals another structural causation elsewhere or else the patient may possibly be suffering from some nonstructural pain syndrome. This is why so many treatments fail, time and time again for these poor souls. The therapies are simply not targeting the real underlying source of pain.
Patients who become brainwashed by their attorneys are not going to be profitable clients if they heal, so most are purposefully made to feel like damaged goods by plaintiff’s doctors and usually wind up in surgery for a condition which may have been there already and may never have been the actual cause of pain.
This is part of the nocebo effect suffered by many personal injury plaintiffs, often purposefully inflicted on them for the sake of raising the monetary value of their cases. In my 12 year career in trial preparation investigation in New York City, I saw this often.
Slip and Fall Herniated Disc Experiences
I get letters from patients all the time asking me how much herniated disc litigation should be worth. I always reply with the same question: Is it worth your health?
That is the actual value which may be due, regardless of the monetary award you may receive. Once your attorney and doctors have been paid, there will be about one third left for you. This will not nearly make up for all the pain and suffering you must endure, often unnecessarily. When it comes to plaintiff’s lawyers, watch out for your own best interests; financially sure, but more importantly, healthwise.
Of course, if you have truly been injured, then litigation is in the best interest of justice. However, never lose sight of your health and always keep your recovery as top priority over getting paid.
Be wary of some lawyers and the “special doctors” they might send you to. I have seen so many patients suffer unnecessarily under this type of litigation care. Once the case is over, these people will not care if you live or die. They got paid and you still have pain. Is it worth it?
Learn the facts about slip and fall herniated discs. If an independent doctor tells you that the disc issue is likely to have existed for a long time prior to the accident or that the disc is unlikely to be the source of any suffering, you might just want to listen.
If this does not apply to you and you are really damaged from your fall, then get diagnosed, get treated, get paid and more power to you. Learn more about commencing a successful herniated disc lawsuit after suffering a slip and fall herniated disc.
Herniated Disc > Herniated Disc Injury > Slip and Fall Herniated Disc
