Facial Injuries from Car Accidents
Serious car accidents put the driver and passengers at risk for painful, disfiguring or other long-term injuries including facial injuries. Car accidents that involve a fire, ejection from the vehicle, a rollover, or a head-on-collision are some of the most dangerous types of car accidents.
Facial injuries are common in severe car accidents because of the intensity of the crash. A person’s face can easily slam into or come into contact with the dashboard, windshield, steering wheel, shattered glass, torn metal or the head rest. A person can also be hit by an air bag as it inflates rapidly, by unsecured items in the vehicle or debris torn from the vehicle thrown into motion by the impact. A person ejected from the vehicle in a car accident is also at risk for a serious facial injury. Facial injuries include burns, nerve damage, scrapes, bruises, lacerations, fractured bones, loss of vision or even jaw and dental injuries. In fact, car accidents are the most common cause of facial fractures and other serious cosmetic injuries to the face.
Common facial injuries from car accidents
Fractures: facial fractures can impact any of the more than twelve bones in our faces including eye sockets, cheekbones, the nose and forehead.
Lacerations: lacerations are deep cuts to the face that may require cosmetic surgery to repair.
Eye injuries: eye injuries from car accidents can cause partial or full loss of vision or the loss of an eye.
Burn injuries: burn injuries to the face can be quite serious; they often require skin grafts and cosmetic surgery but can still leave the victim with permanent and dramatic scars.
Soft-tissue injuries: a soft tissue injury to the face may affect the ligaments, cartilage, tendons, muscles and other fibrous tissue that connects, supports and surrounds the facial structure. Soft-tissue injuries to the face can result in the loss of facial functions and may require complex surgery to repair.
Facial injuries from airbags
Airbags can cause injuries to lots of different body parts including the face. Airbags can be dangerous because of how quickly they deploy, the substances inside of them and whether or not the vehicle’s driver and passengers were wearing seat belts. Some of the most common facial injuries caused by airbags include abrasions, fractures, contusions, and eye injuries such as a retinal tear.
The good news is that facial fractures caused by car crashes are on the decline because of improved motor vehicle safety features and body composition. For those who are affected though, facial injuries can be absolutely devastating.
Disfiguring or other serious facial injuries may require plastic surgery, prosthetics and rehabilitative therapy for physical healing. The pain and suffering of the injury caused by the injury is only one part of the trauma; the psychological impact and the way that the injury affects a person’s social life and body image can be just as devastating. Victims of serious facial injuries such as maxillofacial disfigurement should seek the help of an experienced and caring personal injury lawyer who will fight for justice on the plaintiff’s behalf including monetary damages for medical bills, pain and suffering and counseling. If you or a loved one is suffering from a facial injury caused by a car accident that is impacting your life, contact a personal injury attorney today.
If you or a loved one is dealing with an accident or injury, you have enough on your plate. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. in Bellingham, WA today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing residents of Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
