Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog
One thing I have learned as a Central and Syracuse New York injury lawyer is that almost no one over 30 has a perfect spine. If you are over the age of 30, and we were to take an MRI of your spine today, you would probably be surprised by what we would find. Unbeknownst to you, you probably have “degenerative disc disease” (called “DDD”, which can include disc protrusions or herniations, spinal stenosis, bone spurs and other changes).
I hear you: “What, me, a spine disease”?! Don’t be alarmed. A doctor friend of mine describes DDD as “gray hair of the spine”. It’s part of the normal aging process. We all get it sooner or later, and it is usually harmless, just like gray hair.
Even though most people with DDD have no pain at all, DDD can be associated with neck or back pain. The pain often begins with a traumatic event, such as a fall or a car crash. Many of my Central and Syracuse New York personal injury clients suffer from painful DDD. Although they were pain-free before their accident, the accident caused their asymptomatic (pain free) DDD to suddenly become painful.
How does this happen? Most doctors admit they are not sure, though there are several theories. Essentially, though, nerves near the DDD suddenly become inflamed or irritated by the DDD. In such cases, it is not the DDD on its own that causes the pain. It is the trauma (accident) that activates the DDD causing the pain. And the pain can be chronic, severe, and life-long. It can make life unbearable. It can throw a big monkey wrench into the business of living.
When one of my clients is hurt in a car accident, or in a fall from a scaffold, or is knocked around in any other way, and suddenly ends up with chronic, long term back or neck pain, the insurance company likes to blame all the pain on DDD, and none on the accident. They point to the x-rays and MRI’s taken after the accident and say, “hey, this DDD we see here is causing this pain, and all this DDD was there before the accident, so how are we responsible for the pain?
But the insurance company’s logic is flawed. Actually, it is deliberately flawed, and there’s a word for that: “deceptive“. They know perfectly well that the accident caused a harmless DDD to turn into a debilitating pain syndrome, but they refuse to take responsibility for it. They prefer to blame the DDD. Why? Because they can save money by not having to compensate accident victims for their lost wages, medical expenses and pain and suffering.
Only an experienced New York personal injury lawyer can combat this deceptive logic. If you have painful DDD caused by an accident, hire one!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293