Scarring and Disfigurement Lawyers in Wisconsin
Accidents can cause immediate physical injuries, but not all injuries are equal. Some cause lasting effects and complications. Those who suffer scarring and disfigurement often experience life-altering consequences that affect their futures, self-esteem, and mental health.
The physical injuries may mostly heal over time, but accident victims who suffer disfigurement or scars are left with a painful reminder of the accident every time they look at their injuries. They may suffer psychological consequences from these injuries, too. If someone else’s negligence led to serious injuries that left behind scars and physical imperfections, you deserve to be fairly compensated for the full extent of your losses.
An experienced and compassionate scarring and disfiguring lawyer from Nowlan Injury Law can fight to hold at-fault parties accountable for the harm they caused. Contact us today to take advantage of a free and confidential consultation.
Financial Compensation You Can Recover After a Scarring or Disfiguring Injury
Scarring and disfigurement can profoundly affect accident victims. Personal injury victims may have to undergo multiple medical procedures to treat the injury as much as possible. Repeated procedures may be necessary in many cases.
These medical treatments are often expensive. In addition to the visual effects of the injury, the injury can cause other impacts on the victim that affect their mobility or prevent them from working. Many accident victims never return to work after a catastrophic injury that causes scarring and disfigurement.
The permanent and often embarrassing changes to victims’ appearances can negatively impact a person’s self-esteem and confidence. They may require psychological counseling to help overcome these challenges.
Personal injury victims who suffer scarring or disfigurement may be able to recover compensation for their economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate for the direct financial losses the victim experiences due to the accident, such as:
- Medical expenses: Medical bills to treat catastrophic injuries can be exorbitant. Through a personal injury claim, you may be able to seek compensation for emergency medical care, hospital stays, skin grafts, dermabrasion, topical treatments, radiotherapy, cryotherapy, steroid injections, scar or silicone sheet injections, plastic surgery, laser treatment, microneedling, and other medical treatments. You can also receive compensation for your future medical expenses.
- Lost wages: You can also pursue compensation for your current and future lost wages.
- Diminished earning capacity: You can seek compensation for the long-term reductions in your ability to earn a living.
- Property damage: You have the right to compensation to repair or replace your damaged personal property.
- Out-of-pocket expenses: You can seek compensation for travel to medical appointments, costs to renovate your home, or other out-of-pocket expenses you pay.
Non-economic damages compensate for more subjective losses that are a result of the accident, such as:
- Pain and suffering: You can recover compensation for your physical pain, suffering, and discomfort.
- Emotional trauma: Accidents that cause scarring or disfigurement are often psychologically traumatizing. You can seek compensation for mental anguish, emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and other emotional effects of the injury.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: You can pursue compensation for the negative effect that the accident had on your ability to enjoy life, participate in favorite pastimes, complete hobbies, perform daily tasks, or maintain relationships with loved ones.
- Body image issues: Scarring and disfigurement can cause low self-esteem and embarrassment for which you can seek compensation.
What Is My Scarring or Disfigurement Injury Case Worth?
The value of a scarring or disfigurement case is very fact-specific. A case involving a facial scar to a young person may be worth more than an unnoticeable injury to an older person. Factors that can affect the value of a personal injury case involving scarring or disfigurement include the following:
- The age of the injury victim
- The sex of the injury victim
- The location of the injury
- The injury’s color, size, and visibility
- How deep, long, and severe the wound is
- Whether the scar or disfigurement is permanent in nature
- The type of medical treatments that are necessary to treat the injury and minimize the damage
- The cost of medical treatment
- Whether plastic surgery is recommended
- Whether you need mental health counselling to deal with the trauma that caused the injuries
- How the injuries affect your ability to work and daily life
- The change in your quality of life
Experienced personal injury lawyers can carefully review your case and fight for the financial compensation you deserve.
What to Do If You Have Suffered from Scarring or Disfigurement
If you have suffered a serious injury that resulted in scarring or disfigurement, take the following steps to protect your health and your legal claim:
- Report the accident: Call 911 if you were injured in a car accident or any other accident that may have involved a violation of law. If you were injured on someone else’s property, report your injuries to the building owner or manager.
- Seek immediate medical attention: Go to the emergency room or a doctor immediately. Prompt medical treatment may be able to help minimize your injuries and will serve as an important link between the accident and your injuries.
- Obtain information from the at-fault party: Ask for the at-fault party’s contact and insurance information.
- Document the scene: If possible, take pictures of the accident scene and any factors that may have contributed to it. Ask witnesses for their names and contact information.
- Photograph your injuries: Your injuries will look different as you heal. Document how they appear as you seek treatment and time moves forward.
- Save medical bills and records: Your medical records will be a vital part of your personal injury claim. They can show whether your injury is permanent, the medical care you have received, your anticipated future medical needs, and how the injury has affected your life. Your medical bills and receipts can help show the value of your personal injury claim.
- Contact an experienced lawyer: A personal injury attorney can help gather evidence to prove your claim, handle communications with the insurance company, and protect your interests throughout the process.
What Is Considered Scarring and Disfigurement?
Scars are part of the body’s natural healing process. They form when the body builds tissue to repair damaged skin and close gaps after an injury. They form when the dermis, a deep, thick skin layer, is damaged.
Scars differ in shape, color, and size. Over time, most scars heal and fade away. Various medical treatments can help improve the appearance of scars, but some scars never go away.
Disfigurement occurs when a person’s appearance is significantly altered after an injury. Even after medical treatment, their appearance does not return to normal.
Common Types of Scarring and Disfiguring Injuries
There are several different types of scarring or disfiguring injuries that people can suffer in accidents, including the following:
- Amputation: Amputation is the loss of a limb or other body part. Amputees may have to use prosthetic devices or learn to live with a missing body part.
- Facial injuries: Injuries to the face can occur during motor vehicle accidents and other personal injury incidents when the victim hits their head on a hard surface, such as the dashboard or windshield. They can suffer from facial scars, dental injuries, or other serious issues.
- Fractures: A fracture is a bone break. Some fractures never fully heal, resulting in protrusions from the skin.
- Avulsion injuries: An avulsion fracture or injury can occur when a violent force tears a ligament, muscle, or tendon away from the bone, resulting in a fracture or separation of the tissue from the bone. These injuries sometimes happen during dog bite attacks.
- Burn scars: Burns can cause serious scarring and disfigurement. Burns can arise from various causes, including fires, explosions, heat, chemicals, electricity, and radiation.
- Chemical scars: Chemical burns occur when the skin or eyes come into contact with harsh chemicals. They can cause tissue damage, resulting in severe scars or disfigurement. These injuries may occur because chemicals are not safely stored, don’t have adequate warning labels, or are not used safely.
- Hypertrophic scars: Hypertrophic scars develop after the skin has healed after an injury, resulting in a raised, red appearance. These scars can occur after trauma, surgeries, or burns, and are more likely to occur in areas where the skin is tight or where there is more muscle tissue, such as the back. They form due to the formation of excess collagen during the wound’s healing process. They do not form beyond the area of the injury.
- Contracture scars: Contracture scars usually form after a burn. Some of these scars can cause the skin to tighten, hinder body movement, and affect muscle and nerve function. Many victims who have contracture scars experience ongoing pain and suffering.
- Keloid scars: Keloid scars are raised, discolored, and thickened scars that form a puffy area around the original wound. They form from an abnormal healing process when the body produces too much collagen. Unlike hypertrophic scars, they grow beyond the boundaries of the original wound. Over time, they can inhibit movement.
- Atrophic scars: These scars are depressions or indentations that form when collagen is lost or damaged. They occur when the skin heals below the normal layer of skin tissue.
Common Causes of Scarring and Disfigurement
Scars can occur even after minor injuries. However, more severe scarring and disfiguring injuries tend to occur in traumatic accidents, including:
- Fires: When the body is exposed to extreme heat, tissue damage can occur, which can result in severe scarring and disfigurement. Fires often occur when dangerous conditions on a property exist, which can provide the basis of a premises liability claim.
- Explosions: Explosions can cause severe burns that result in disfigurement to individuals close to the blast zone. Common causes of explosions include dangerous construction sites, defective products, or the combustion of natural gas.
- Defective products: Defective products can include automotive products, medical devices, toys, and electrical appliances. If the product malfunctions or doesn’t work as intended, an innocent consumer can be injured, and the product manufacturer may be responsible for the injuries.
- Car accidents: Accidents involving motor vehicles can cause catastrophic injuries due to flying debris, crushing metal, and the violent force involved in them.
- Motorcycle accidents: Motorcyclists have minimal protection in case of an accident, leading to severe injuries that often cause scarring and disfigurement.
- Truck accidents: Commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, so when they collide with a smaller passenger vehicle weighing around 4,000 pounds, the occupants in the small vehicle may suffer from crush injuries, amputations, burns, and other serious injuries.
- Bicycle accidents: Bicyclists can be run over, hit, or otherwise harmed by cars. They have little protection from them and can be ejected from their bikes onto vehicles or onto the hard ground.
- Pedestrian accidents: Pedestrians can also be severely injured in accidents caused by negligent motorists. They can suffer broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and amputation injuries.
- ATV accidents: ATV accidents can lead to amputations, frostbite, and other severe injuries that have a lifelong impact on accident victims.
- Falls: Falls from heights can cause severe puncture wounds and other devastating injuries.
- Dog bites: Dangerous dogs can cause permanent scarring, especially to the faces of young children. Other victims can suffer from puncture wounds, lacerations, and scratches in animal attacks. Extensive cosmetic surgeries may be necessary to minimize the damage.
- Chemical exposure: People can unknowingly be exposed to dangerous chemicals. When they come in contact with them, the corrosive chemicals can harm their skin and eyes.
- Construction accidents: Construction sites often have many dangers, including falls from heights, being struck by objects, being crushed by heavy machinery, or being electrocuted from live wires.
- Assaults: Some severe injuries occur after intentional misconduct, such as assault or nursing home abuse.
In some personal injury cases, scarring or disfigurement is due to the initial injury, such as a traumatic injury at the scene of the accident. In others, it is due to scars caused by surgery or other medical procedures.
Call Nowlan Injury Law for a Free and Confidential Consultation
If you were injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, you need experienced legal representation. The legal team at Nowlan Injury Law can guide you through the personal injury claim process and fight tirelessly to protect your rights. Contact us for a free case review.
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2 1/2 Years ago my life was turned upside-down. I called lawyer after lawyer that never cared to call me back until I called Steven Caya's office and they got back to me right away. When he said he would take my case it was such a sigh of relief. Steven and his team were there for me every step of the way after my accident and I never felt left out. They always kept me so informed! I'm hoping I will never need them again but if I did I would 100% go back! Thank you all so much for your care and support during such a rough time!!
Andrea Perrault
