Most herniated discs are in the lower back, but they are also sometimes in the neck or cervical spine. Often, when a herniated disc is in the lower back, there is an intense pain in the thighs, calf, foot, or buttocks. Sometimes muscles associated with the affected nerves may weaken due to herniated discs, resulting in additional impairments.
Herniated discs can take a long time to show up after a car accident. If you are involved in a crash, you should see a doctor right away, but you should not accept a settlement offer from the at-fault driver's insurer without first speaking to your own attorney. This is because a settlement offer is unlikely to take into account injuries that manifest later or that may be more severe than initially believed.
Compensatory damages recovered through a personal injury lawsuit are intended to make an accident victim "whole." That is, they are designed to compensate you for the losses you have suffered, but they are not intended to punish the defendant. Damages often include medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, property damage, the cost of household services, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Insurance companies often try to avoid paying a settlement by claiming that a herniated disc is the result of a pre-existing condition. Disc herniation is often caused by gradual aging and disk degeneration due to loss of water content. Because of the lost water, they are less flexible and more apt to rupture. However, you are not barred from recovery simply because you have a pre-existing condition. You can recover to the extent that damages are caused by the aggravation of the pre-existing condition. Often, a pre-existing condition causes a car accident to have more serious consequences than it would otherwise have had.