This post will help you understand how epidural steroid injections impact the settlement compensation payouts in motor vehicle accident cases where the victim suffers a herniated or bulging disc.
A disc herniation is a disc injury frequently caused by car accidents. The impact of a car accident often exerts significant force and pressure on the spine. This pressure can cause a tear, rupture, or bulge of the spinal discs, which act as pads or cushions for the spine. Epidural steroid injections, often called corticosteroid injections or epidural steroid injections, are commonly used to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain in various areas of the body, including the back.
The question many victims have is how much epidural steroid injections increase settlement amounts and jury payouts. Our lawyers give insight into how compensation is calculated in these cases.
Our First Trial Was an Epidural Injection Case
Our firm has handled scores and scores of herniated disc injury cases. Our first trial at Miller & Zois was a herniated disc verdict twenty years ago in 2003. Our doors had been open for about a month. The defendant offered $25,000 to settle a no-property damage herniated disc injury case where epidural steroid injections were the most aggressive treatment.
Laura Zois and I tried the case. We got a $300,000 verdict. Our firm has handled these cases ever since. We have earned millions in settlements and verdicts in herniated disc injury cases.
I originally wrote this page in 2018 but updated it in 2025 with more recent settlements and verdicts and new information on epidural steroid injections. I continue to learn from handling these cases, and I share what I know with you.
What Are the Treatment Options for a Herniated Disc?
Having a herniated disc is like saying you are an actor. You might be Tom Hanks bringing in $20 million a film. Or you could be the understudy at a local dinner theater. About 20% of us have a herniated disc. Many of us do not know we have a herniation because we cannot feel it. Some of us have very slight herniations that cause great pain every day.
So there is a food chain of increasingly intensive treatment when dealing with a herniated disc that goes something like this:
(1) Conservative Treatment. The first level of treatment typically involves a course of anti-inflammatory drugs combined with physical therapy.
(2) Steroid Injections. If the initial conservative treatments are unsuccessful, the next level treatment option is often steroid injections. The steroids are injected into the spine to reduce swelling and alleviate pressure on the nerves caused by the disc herniation.
(3) Surgery. If both conservative treatment and steroid injections fail, the third level of treatment option for disc herniation is surgery. Surgical treatment options range from minimally invasive procedures to open back surgery.
Which Epidural Steroid Injections Treat Disc Injuries?
Therapeutic spinal epidural injections or select nerve root blocks are the type of injections our lawyers usually see. There are three primary approaches to epidural steroid injections:
- Interlaminar epidural injection: injecting anti-inflammatory medicine and steroids into the epidural space. This is the most common type we see in personal injury cases.
- Transforaminal epidural injection (often called nerve blocks): injecting local anesthetic and steroid into the area where the spinal nerves exit (lumbar, cervical, or thoracic).
- Caudal epidural injections: injecting caudal steroid into the epidural space through the sacral hiatus. Our lawyers usually do not see this kind of injection until after back surgery, which does not provide the victim with relief.
Many studies show epidural steroid injections’ effectiveness in treating low back and neck pain. Do they always work? No.
