Degenerative Disc Disease Aggravated By A Car Accident

Being involved in a car accident can be a stressful, traumatic, and life-changing event. If you’re one of the millions of people who have some form of disc degeneration, your condition can be aggravated by the violent nature of an automobile collision.

Even though a car accident will not cause degenerative disc disease (DDD), it can worsen this condition and disrupt your life through pain and suffering, lost wages, and costly medical bills. 

If you suffer from DDD and have been involved in an accident, the law allows you to recover damages for degenerative disc disease aggravated by a car accident, but there are certain things you need to know about your legal rights. Here, we will cover everything you need to know about your rights and the options available to you.

What Is Degenerative Disc Disease?

As we age, certain parts of our bodies naturally begin to wear out and, in some cases, gradually break down. Such is the case with the discs in your spine, which act as shock-absorbing cushions between individual vertebrae and provide the flexibility in your back that enables you to twist and bend over.

Over time, these discs become flatter and lose the sponginess that cushions movement between the vertebrae. In some cases, excessive wear and tear can cause minuscule cracks in the outer disc wall to develop, and if this occurs near any nerves, varying degrees of pain can result. 

The gradual degeneration of discs in your back is an unavoidable part of aging. Some people get through it with hardly any pain, while for others, it can become a debilitating condition that impacts their ability to work and live a normal life. These are the common symptoms of degenerative disc disease:

• One of the most common symptoms of DDD is pain in the neck and back areas, which can vary from constant to sharp and sudden

• Pain in your lower back, buttocks, or upper thighs that worsens when you sit and feels better when you walk around

• You are unable to bend over, lift heavy items, or twist your body without experiencing pain in your neck or back

• Pain in your back that does not subside unless you lie down or move around

• Nagging pain in your neck and back that comes and goes without warning

For some sufferers of degenerative disc disease, the condition is chronic and requires regular measures to manage the pain. For others, pain is fleeting or even nonexistent. An important thing to keep in mind is that nearly everyone over the age of 40, regardless of prior medical history, has DDD to some degree.

Diagnosing degenerative disc disease involves a detailed consultation with your physician and a thorough evaluation of your symptoms, medical history, and other relevant information. If your pain or discomfort is serious enough, X-rays or an MRI may be needed to determine the severity of your condition.

Can a Car Accident Make Degenerative Disc Disease Worse?

A car accident is unlikely to cause degenerative disc disease. It can, however, aggravate this health condition and worsen its symptoms significantly. This is because a collision between vehicles is a serious event during which your body will be subjected to sudden and violent movements. 

Many parts of your body, namely your neck and back, are not structured to withstand powerful impacts like a car accident without suffering some form of damage. Particularly dangerous is your body’s inertia coming to a sudden and forceful stop causing a jerking, whiplash effect on your neck, back, and spine.

Even if you have never experienced back pain previously, a car accident can exacerbate DDD to the point that dormant elements of this condition suddenly manifest themselves. Similarly, a collision can worsen mild back ailments into more serious ones. The types of back disorders that can arise when degenerative disc disease is aggravated by a car accident include:

• Scoliosis (curvature of the spine)

• Osteoarthritis 

• Spinal stenosis 

• Herniated discs

• Sciatica 

• Bone spurs 

• Pinched nerves

Regardless of your previous medical history, if you have degenerative disc disease, getting into a car accident can aggravate your condition and lead to any of the above ailments. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may need legal representation to pursue compensation.

What Are the Legal Options for Degenerative Disc Disease Aggravated by a Car Accident?

Conventional thinking would suggest that if you have degenerative disc disease and become involved in a car accident, your pre-existing back condition would preclude you from receiving any legal compensation for back pain resulting from the accident. But personal injury laws see things from a different perspective.

The Eggshell Skull Rule

A well-known doctrine in personal injury law known as the “eggshell skull rule” states that defendants who are legally liable for their actions take their victims as they found them. 

In other words, even if a health condition makes you more susceptible to injury than a normal person, the defendant will still be legally responsible for your injuries, even if they could not have known about your pre-existing condition and even though a healthy person would not have suffered injuries as severe as yours.

Here’s What You Can Recover

A case involving degenerative disc disease that is aggravated by a car accident requires experienced legal counsel who is well-versed in this very specialized area of personal injury law. The types of compensation you can recover include:

• Medical bills (past, current, and future)

• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity resulting from the worsening of your degenerative disc disease

• Pain and suffering resulting from the car accident

Recovering damages resulting from DDD that is aggravated by a car accident requires a showing that the collision worsened your condition and that the injuries you are alleging are a result of the accident.

Get Legal Help Today

If you have been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and your condition has been aggravated by a car accident, the at-fault driver’s insurance company and their lawyers will argue that any injuries and damages you have suffered are the results of your pre-existing condition and not due to the collision. 

Here at Peck Law Corporation, we specialize in elder law, criminal defense, and personal injury cases, including those related to degenerative disc disease aggravated by a car accident. With their years of experience and expertise, their team of dedicated attorneys is committed to providing the highest level of legal representation and support to their clients. If you or a loved one has suffered from degenerative disc disease as a result of a car accident, Peck Law Corp can help you navigate the legal process and fight for the compensation you deserve. 

Recovering fair compensation for injuries resulting from aggravated degenerative disc disease due to a car accident requires specialized legal representation. Our team here at Peck Law Corporation has the experience and expertise to successfully navigate the entire legal process from start to finish.

Contact us today to get started and to see what options are available to you.