Facial Injuries From a Car Accident

Nobody should have to suffer injuries in a car accident caused by another person’s negligence, yet collisions and personal injuries happen more often than many people might think. In both minor and serious crashes, motor vehicle occupants are susceptible to sustaining disfiguring facial injuries. Even if a motor vehicle crash does not seem particularly severe or result in substantial property damage, a vehicle occupant or pedestrian involved in the wreck still can sustain facial injuries in the car accident that can require reconstructive surgery and cause lasting scarring. In more severe accidents, facial injuries can require multiple surgeries and may require the injury victim to live with permanent disfigurement.

The car accident lawyers at Walton Law Firm want to provide you with more information about some of the types of traumatic facial injuries that may occur as a result of a car crash and to discuss some of the signs and symptoms of these injuries.

Facial fractures are among the most common injuries that can impact a person’s face after a car crash. According to WebMD, there are numerous bones in the face that can sustain fractures. In most cases, facial fractures occur because of trauma to the face, frequently from traffic collisions. Like other broken bones, facial fractures often cause swelling and bruising in the area of the fracture, as well as significant pain. There are numerous types of facial fractures, including but not limited to the following:

• Broken nose, or a nasal fracture: This type of facial fracture can result in pain, swelling, nosebleeds, bruising around the person’s nose, and even difficulty breathing.
• Forehead fracture, or fracture of the frontal bone: With this kind of bone break, a person’s forehead may look inverted or pushed inward, and the person also may experience pain around his or her sinuses and other eye injuries.
• Broken cheekbone, or a zygomatic maxillary fracture: Symptoms may include flattened cheek, altered sensation under the eye, eyesight problems, and jaw movement problems.
• Eye socket fracture, or orbital fracture: Since this kind of bone break involves the bones around a person’s eye socket, it typically occurs when a blunt object strikes the person’s eye. Signs can include a black eye, redness or bleeding in the eye, numbness anywhere around the forehead, eyelids, cheek, or even lips and teeth, and swelling.
• Broken jaw: This kind of fracture usually involves pain, bruising, jaw tenderness, bruising under the tongue, missing or loose teeth, and numbness in the area.
• Midface or maxillary fracture: When a person suffers a midface fracture, the primary symptoms include deformity in the face and swelling.

Facial fractures may require reconstructive surgery, and some may cause permanent disfigurement. Some can even be life-threatening, requiring immediate medical attention if they impact a person’s respiratory system, central nervous system, or vision.

While other types of facial injuries after a car accident may not be as severe or life-threatening as facial fractures, other types of injuries still can result in disfigurement and scarring.

Most often, according to American Family Physician and Medscape, those injuries include facial lacerations and facial burns. Depending upon the severity of the injury, the car accident victim may require stitches and other skin closure methods, reconstructive surgery, and post-procedure care to prevent infection.

Were you involved in a traffic collision that caused facial injuries? A car accident attorney may be able to help. Contact the Walton Law Firm for a free and confidential consultation about the merits and value of your car accident case.