September 18, 2025 | Personal Injury
After a car crash, fall, or sudden impact, neck pain can arise suddenly or slowly. Either way, it’s easy to brush off. You might assume it’s a pulled muscle or a strain that’ll work itself out. But in a lot of cases, that pain comes from a herniated disc at the C4/C5 or C5/C6 level.
These are two of the most common spots in the cervical spine where herniations happen because they bear a lot of movement and stress. They’re vulnerable during collisions, especially when the neck is whipped back and forth.
How Can a Disc Become Herniated?
Think of the discs in your spine as soft cushions between the vertebrae. They help you move and absorb shock. When a disc herniates, part of that cushion slips out of place or breaks open. At the C4/C5 or C5/C6 level, that can mean major pain and stiffness in your neck, numbness or tingling in your arms, and weakness in your hands.
These two disc levels are critical because they’re in the middle of your neck’s movement zone. They help control the muscles in your shoulders, arms, and hands, so you feel it when something goes wrong there.
It doesn’t take a high-speed crash to cause this. A moderate accident with enough force can do it, and once it happens, the pain can linger for weeks, months, or longer. Sometimes, surgery is needed to fix it.
Common Accidents That Lead to Herniated Discs
Car accidents are perhaps the most common cause, especially rear-end collisions. When your head jerks forward and backward suddenly, your neck takes the hit. That motion can damage the discs in your cervical spine.
Other scenarios can do the same kind of harm, including:
- Slips and falls on hard surfaces
- Workplace accidents (especially in construction or warehouse settings)
- Sports injuries (namely, contact sports like football or wrestling)
- Assaults or physical altercations that involve blows to the head or neck
In each of these examples, impact and force are the common threads. When force hits the neck, the C4/C5 and C5/C6 discs are often first in line to receive the brunt of it.
Pain from a Herniated Disc Won’t Always Present Itself Immediately
One of the trickiest parts about a C4/C5 or C5/C6 herniation is the timing. Symptoms don’t always show up right after the accident. You might walk away thinking you’re not hurt, only to wake up in a few days unable to turn your head.
That delay can complicate documenting the injury for a legal claim. Insurance companies may argue that the damage wasn’t caused by the accident, even when all signs may point to it.
Herniated Discs Greatly Impact Your Life
Living with a herniated disc in your neck can change your life. You might have trouble working, driving, or sleeping. Some people recover with physical therapy and rest. Others need injections, long-term treatment, or surgery.
No matter the path to recovery, the injury itself is disruptive. It affects your ability to earn a living, support your family, and live without pain. When that injury comes from someone else’s actions, it opens the door to legal questions.
Contact Our Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Everyone’s situation is different, but injuries to the C4/C5 or C5/C6 discs follow a familiar pattern. They hurt, they linger, and they can upend your life. When that injury ties back to an accident caused by someone else, it becomes a legal issue. Understanding how these injuries happen and how they affect you is an important step toward getting your life back on track.
For more information, please contact the personal injury attorneys at KRLG Injury Lawyers at our nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.
We serve Scottsdale, Phoenix, Maricopa County, & Arizona’s surrounding areas.
KRLG Injury Lawyers
10609 Hayden Rd Suite 106, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, United States
(623) 303-5754