Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers | September 26, 2025 | Personal Injury
Being in a car accident can leave you struggling with a variety of injuries, including those that impact your spine. The force exerted on impact can lead to issues with your vertebrae as well as your discs. But how do these injuries occur, and how do they impact your overall well-being?
What Are Herniated Discs?
Your spine is made up of stacked bones called vertebrae. Between these bones, a cushion-like structure called a disc prevents the vertebrae from rubbing against each other as you move. These discs contain a jelly-like center. In an accident, one or more of these discs can tear or bulge, putting pressure on spinal nerves that can cause numbness, weakness, and pain.
Your neck’s vertebrae are numbered based on their location, like C4 or C5, and the discs between them are referred to relative to the bone on either side. For example, the disc between your C4 and C5 bones would be called the C4/C5 disc.
Although herniated discs can occur anywhere along the spine, they are most common in the neck area, specifically at the C4/C5 and C5/C6 areas.
C4/C5 Herniation
Many collisions, including motorcycle accidents, result in these injuries at the C4/C5 disc. You can experience shoulder pain, numbness, and tingling with a herniated C4/C5 disc. The most severe cases could result in paralysis, as well.
It’s common to experience headaches and weakness that radiates down to your hands. If the phrenic nerve is affected, you could even have trouble breathing.
C5/C6 Herniation
What are C5/C6 disc herniation symptoms? A herniation between the C5 and C6 vertebrae can impact your arms and lower back. You can experience pain, tingling, and numbness that radiates to your biceps, wrists, and thumbs.
Headaches are common, too, as is crepitus, which refers to grinding and popping sounds when you move. The long-term effects of a herniated disc in the neck are often worse in this location. You’re also more likely to have weakened other vertebrae in crashes that involve C5 and C6 injuries.
Can You File a Claim for a Herniated Disc?
If you suffered losses because of another party’s misconduct, you may be entitled to file for compensation. To do this, you must start a personal injury claim.
To do so, you must show that the other party owed you a duty of care they breached. For example, if the defendant was driving while intoxicated, they broke the law and breached their duty to you. If you can demonstrate that their conduct directly caused your losses, you can begin a claim against them.
You can also receive compensation for the physical and emotional distress you have experienced. If you can’t live your life as you used to before the crash, that can be addressed via non-economic damages.
What if I’m Partially Responsible for My Accident?
But what if you were partly responsible for the accident that resulted in your injury? North Carolina has pure contributory negligence laws, so if you’re in any way responsible for your injuries, you typically won’t be allowed to recover losses.
Insurance companies will do everything they can to blame you for the crash, so you should never pursue these claims without representation by your side. With assistance, you can fight for the damages you need to cover the medical expenses associated with herniated discs, as well as lost wages for the days that you have not been able to work.
Call Our Raleigh Personal Injury Attorneys at Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation After a Neck Injury
After being in a car accident that left you with a herniated disc, filing a personal injury claim might be the right choice. With assistance from experienced attorneys, you can fight for the compensation you deserve. Because there is so much at stake due to North Carolina’s strict contributory negligence laws, you should hire experienced and trusted lawyers.
For more information, please contact Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer in North Carolina today. We have twelve convenient locations in North Carolina, including Greenville, Raleigh, Goldsboro, Jacksonville, Kinston, Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Winston-Salem & Garner.
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Raleigh Office
4600 Marriott Dr STE 500, Raleigh, NC 27612
(919) 876-3020
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Durham Office
100 E Parrish St STE 200, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 728-1770
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Goldsboro Office
601 N Spence Ave, Goldsboro, NC 27534
(919) 778-9700
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Charlotte Office
1914 J N Pease Pl Suite 142, Charlotte, NC 28262
(704) 486-5824
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Greenville Office
300 E Arlington Blvd Suite 2A #110, Greenville, NC 27858
(252) 397-8620
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Fayetteville Office
2517 Raeford Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28305
(910) 387-9186
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Greensboro Office
7B Corporate Center Ct Suite 15, Greensboro, NC 27408
(336) 516-9066
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Jacksonville Office
3391 Henderson Dr, Jacksonville, NC 28546
(910) 455-5599
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Garner Office
500 Benson Rd Suite 111, Garner, NC 27529
(800) 525-7111
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Kinston Office
807 N Queen St, Kinston, NC 28501
(252) 397-8624
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Wilmington Office
1608 Queen St Suite 12, Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 889-4064
Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers – Winston-Salem Office
102 W 3rd St, Ste 1007, Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 516-9042