Scarring and disfigurement are tragically common in personal injury cases, especially when the victim suffered from a vehicular accident. People who suffer from scarring and disfigurement often have to pay for pricey reconstructive surgeries and other medical treatments. Even after paying for costly treatments, victims of scarring and disfigurements will often have to live with minor or severe damage for the rest of their lives.
Scarring and disfigurement are more than just physical conditions––they also have mental and emotional effects. Those who have suffered from scarring and disfigurement may suffer from various emotional and mental conditions, such as damage to their self-esteem, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other conditions.
The mental and emotional impact of scarring and disfigurement is made even worse if the victim sustained injuries to their face. Scarring and disfigurement to the face are especially noticeable, which can leave a severe emotional and mental impact.
If you or a loved one suffered from scars or disfigurement to the face or another region, you may be qualified to receive compensation for personal injuries. You need to know the types of damages you or a loved one can receive for scarring and disfigurement, and you need an expert Detroit and Michigan car accident attorney to help you receive the compensation you deserve.
Causes of Scarring and Disfigurement
When someone suffers from scarring and disfigurement, it could last their entire life even after going through expensive medical treatments. Scarring and disfigurement often occur after a car accident that results in:
Amputation: The loss of a limb after a personal injury can have serious physical, mental, and emotional effects on a person. There are physical restrictions that come with losing a limb or body part, and amputations also result in serious scarring and disfigurement.
Scarring: Medical treatments can obscure many scars, but there are some scars that victims suffer from that they may never be able to fully recover from both physically and mentally. Scarring will often come with emotional pain that lasts long after the physical pain subsides.
Burns: Burns that result from chemicals or fire can lead to severe disfigurement. People who suffer from burns often experience changes in skin color and texture that may last for years or even be permanent.
Facial Trauma: Facial trauma can lead to serious physical, mental, and emotional issues. Facial trauma can result from deep lacerations, eye injuries, or injuries that lead to the disfigurement of the teeth or mouth. Facial scarring and disfigurement can severely disrupt a person’s life and lead to mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, as well as social withdrawal.
Circumstances That Can Lead to Scarring and Disfigurement
There are many different types of accidents and injuries that can lead to scarring and disfigurement. Some of the many situations include but are not limited to:
- Sporting accidents
- Dog bites
- Surgery
- Bike accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Slip and falls
- Explosion injuries
- Defective products
- Work-related accidents
- Exposure to toxic materials or chemicals
- Boating accidents
- Medical malpractice
Another common cause of scarring and disfigurement is automobile accidents. Scarring and disfigurement can result from a vehicular accident easily because of the possibility of sustaining blunt force trauma and deep lacerations. Common causes of scarring and disfigurement in a car accident include:
- Debris or flying objects: Being hit by something during a car wreck can lead to serious scarring or disfigurement.
- Motorist ejection: If a driver or passenger is ejected from their vehicle, they can sustain serious injuries from their fall. Additionally, they may be ejected through the windshield, which can lead to serious injuries, scars, or death.
- Shattered glass: Broken glass in a car accident can be deadly, and it can also lead to victims suffering deep lacerations.
- Contact with airbag: Hitting an airbag can lead to serious blunt force trauma that leads to permanent disfigurement.
- Hitting the steering wheel or dashboard: Suffering from a car accident can lead to heavy contact with the steering wheel or dashboard, especially if the victim gets into a car accident at a high speed. Making contact with the steering wheel or dashboard of a vehicle can lead to a severely broken nose or other facial injuries.
- Slamming against the side window: Hitting your head against the side window can lead to head trauma, and it can also leave you with notable scarring, bruising, and disfigurement.
If you have suffered a scarring or disfigurement injury in a car crash in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, or anywhere else in Michigan, the Lee Steinberg Law Firm can help you seek appropriate and full financial compensation. You have the right to have your medical bills, lost wages, and other benefits paid for by the car insurance company.
Facial Scarring and Disfigurement
Facial scarring and disfigurement is an especially mentally and emotionally painful injury to sustain. Some of the different types of facial scarring include:
Keloid Scars
Keloid scars are a result of the healing process of an injury. Scars often become bumpy and will last after the initial injury has already healed. Some of the bumps that result from keloid scarring can get large and affect facial mobility. Doctors treat keloid scars through surgery and steroid injections, or they can apply a silicone sheet to flatten the bumps. Small keloid bumps can also be treated with cryotherapy and laser therapy. Silicone gel pads can keep your skin from developing keloids after sustaining an injury.
Contracture Scars
Contracture scars form after receiving a burn. While the skin heals, it will contract along the surface of the skin, resulting in tightness that may restrict movement. In addition to the skin, contracture scars can also impact the tightness and mobility of muscles and nerves.
Hypertrophic Scars
Hypertrophic scars bear similarities to keloid scars, but unlike keloid scars, they don’t exceed beyond where the original injury occurred. Hypertrophic scars can be treated with corticosteroid injections or by using silicone sheets to flatten the scar.
What Can Cause Facial Scarring and Disfigurement?
Many different personal injuries can result in facial scarring and disfigurement. If you or a loved one suffered from any of the following during an accident, you may have facial scars that develop:
- Lacerations: Experiencing a facial laceration resulting from an accident, such as a vehicular accident, sporting accident, or fall, can lead to long-lasting or permanent facial scars.
- Thermal burn: A thermal burn can result from many different types of personal injury accidents, including a car fire, home fire, oven accident, or another accident involving an open flame. First-degree burns usually heal without permanent scarring, but second and third-degree burns can lead to severe scarring.
- Chemical burn: Chemical burns can result from accidents involving acids and bases. A chemical burn to the face can lead to severe second or third-degree burns that can lead to permanent scarring and disfigurement. One method of treating a severe chemical burn is through skin grafting.
Like with scarring and disfigurement on other parts of the body, facial scarring and disfigurement can often result from a motor accident. Common injuries sustained during a vehicular accident that lead to facial disfigurement and scarring include:
- Fractures and broken bones: There are 14 bones located in the face, including the lacrimal bones, the mandible, the maxilla, nasal bones, zygomatic bones, patine bones, and the inferior nasal concha. In the event of suffering from a facial bone fracture or break, you could suffer from scarring and disfigurement.
- Vehicular burn injuries: Suffering a facial burn from a wreck can cause serious scarring. Burns can result from fires or explosions in a crash or from a severe abrasion from the seatbelt. Burn injuries to the face often require skin grafting surgery.
- Lacerations: Lacerations to the face can result from broken glass, debris, and impact injuries that occurred during a wreck.
- Eye injuries: Eyes are incredibly vulnerable during car accidents. They may receive damage from debris and flying objects, such as glass.
- Soft tissue injuries: Soft tissue includes cartilage, tendons, muscles, ligaments, and other tissues that cushion bones. When facial soft tissue is damaged, people often require a visit to the emergency room and additional treatment from plastic surgeons.
Compensation for Scarring and Disfigurement
If you or a loved one suffered from temporary or permeant scarring and disfigurement, you may be eligible for compensation for personal injuries sustained by filing a claim. Victims can receive money for different damages including:
- Medical bills, including any necessary specialized treatment, such as plastic surgery
- Lost income
- Future loss of earnings
- Physical pain and suffering
- Rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and physical therapy
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional distress and mental trauma
- Self-esteem damage
- PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other psychological conditions
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Cases involving scarring and disfigurement can leave victims with pricey medical bills as well as long-lasting or permanent physical, mental, and emotional damage, so you need to seek compensation for damages.
Hire a Michigan Car Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one has suffered from scarring or disfigurement to the face or another part of the body, make sure to hire an expert personal injury lawyer. Quality personal injury attorneys can get you the compensation you deserve for physical and emotional injuries, and they can also help you through the process of dealing with your injury claim and insurance companies.
If you’re located in Michigan, contact the Lee Steinberg Law Firm to represent you for your personal injury. You need the best legal support around to get you the proper compensation you deserve for scarring and disfigurement, so call 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733) or click here for a free consultation. We don’t get paid until we win your case in court or settle, so there’s no risk in hiring us to represent you.
We serve Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Sterling Heights.
