Many Accidents Can Cause Herniated Discs at C4/C5 or C5/C6. Here’s What You Need to Know
In an accident, your body can experience tremendous forces that cause it to twist and bend unnaturally. The resulting stresses on your spine can permanently damage its structure, producing symptoms that affect your entire body.
Herniated discs at the C4/C5 or C5/C6 levels are especially serious because they occur in the neck, where even small injuries can interfere with nerves that control movement. These injuries are often painful, slow to heal, and can limit your ability to work or perform daily activities, making it important to understand how they happen and what legal options may be available afterward.
Neck Injuries From Accidents
Your neck provides a flexible link between your head and body. This flexibility gives your head its wide range of motion. You can tilt and turn your head to hear, see, smell, or speak more clearly.
During an accident, the weight of your head can hyperextend your neck. For example, when you hit another vehicle in a car accident, your body is held by your seat belt. However, your head can move freely, pulling on your neck as it whips around. This process and the resulting injuries are both referred to as “whiplash.”
Although car accidents are most frequently associated with whiplash, this injury can also occur in other traumatic incidents where the head snaps back and forth violently. Thus, you could also suffer whiplash in a slip and fall accident when your body hits the ground, and your head whips back.
Common Symptoms of C4/C5 or C5/C6 Herniated Discs
When a disc at C4/C5 or C5/C6 herniates or bulges, it can press on nearby nerve roots or the spinal cord. This pressure may stretch muscles and ligaments and interfere with nerve signals.
Common symptoms include:
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Burning or sharp pain
- Numbness or tingling
- Muscle weakness
- Reduced range of motion or dexterity
The location of the injury affects where symptoms appear. The C4/C5 and C5/C6 discs are located in the middle of the cervical spine and are especially vulnerable during whiplash-type movements. Nerves near these discs control sensation and strength in the shoulders, arms, forearms, wrists, and hands. As a result, people with injuries at these levels often experience symptoms that radiate into the arms and hands.
Accident Compensation For Disc Injuries In North Carolina
Under North Carolina law, people and businesses are liable for the injuries they negligently or intentionally cause. If your herniated disc resulted from someone else’s actions, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, and pain and suffering.
Disc injuries often require extensive treatment, including diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, injections, or even surgery. These injuries can also limit your ability to work, drive, or perform daily activities. Because herniated discs may worsen over time, compensation should reflect not only your current medical needs but also future care, long-term limitations, and how the injury has changed your quality of life.
How Negligence and Fault Affect Disc Injury Claims in North Carolina
To recover compensation for a herniated disc in North Carolina, you must prove that another party was negligent. This generally means showing that they owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused your injury as a result. Common examples include careless drivers, unsafe property owners, or employers who failed to follow safety rules.
North Carolina follows a strict contributory negligence rule. If you are found even slightly at fault for the accident, you may be barred from recovering compensation. Because of this, insurance companies often look for ways to shift blame onto injured people, especially in cases involving spine injuries that may be blamed on aging or prior conditions. Strong medical evidence and early legal guidance are critical to protecting your right to recover damages.
Contact the Charlotte Personal Injury Attorneys at Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers for Help Today
A herniated or bulging disc in neck (C5-C6 or C4-C5) is a serious and, in many cases, permanent injury. It can produce symptoms in your hands and arms. Fortunately, you can seek compensation for its effects if it resulted from someone else’s acts.
If you’ve suffered a herniated disc from someone else’s negligence, Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers is here to help. Our Charlotte personal injury lawyers will fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free consultation.
We proudly serve clients in Charlotte, NC, Mecklenburg County, and its surrounding areas:
Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers
1244 East Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203
(704) 980-9999
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