Herniated Disc, Slipped Disc, Pinched Nerve, and Personal Injury Cases

What's a herniated disc, pinched nerve, bulging discS?

According to www.spine-health.com, there are many different terms to describe spinal disc pathology, and all are used differently by different healthcare practitioners. Some examples of terms used to describe spinal disc abnormalities include:

* Pinched nerve * Sciatica * Herniated disc (or herniated disk) * Bulging disc, ruptured disc, or slipped disc * Disc protrusion * Disc degeneration (or degenerative disc disease) * Disc disease

There is no agreement in the medical field as to the precise definition of any of these terms. Often the patient hears his or her diagnosis referred to in different terms by different practitioners and is left wondering if there is any consensus on what is wrong. see http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/d_difference/diff01.html

Rather than focus on the terminology referring to spinal anatomy, it's most helpful for patients to focus on understanding the clinical diagnosis. It should be kept in mind that all the terms ­ herniated disc, pinched nerve, bulging disc, slipped disc, ruptured disc, etc. ­ refer to radiographic findings seen on a CT scan or MRI scan (x-rays can indicate disc degeneration but cannot actually image the disc itself). While radiographic findings are important, they are not as meaningful in determining the source of the pain (the clinical diagnosis) as the patient's specific symptoms and the spine specialist's findings on physical exam.

Clinical diagnosis The key factor in the clinical diagnosis is to determine if the patient has pinched nerve or if the disc space itself is generating the pain.

1. Pinched nerve. A pinched nerve will generate radicular pain (nerve root pain or sciatica). 2. Disc pain. If the disc itself is painful, then this will generate either referred pain or axial pain.