Serious Tennessee car accidents can be traumatic for all parties involved, especially when they involve debilitating injuries and substantial property damage. When victims sustain facial injuries, however, they often suffer from severe emotional anguish in addition to any physical pain.
Any kind of injury to the face, regardless of whether the victim was disfigured, scarred or seriously harmed, can leave the injured person feeling self-conscious. Many facial injury victims believe that others are treating them differently and may even begin to see themselves differently.
If you or a loved one has sustained a facial injury in a collision that was caused by the actions or negligence of another, you may be able to file a lawsuit in order to recover damages from those who caused the accident. You may be entitled to recover compensation for current and future medical bills, lost wages, physical pain, mental anguish and other damages related to the accident.
To begin exploring your legal options, contact our experienced car accident lawyers today by completing the Free Case Review form to the right.
Types of Facial Injuries
Also known as maxillofacial trauma, facial injuries are some of the most common injuries reported after a Tennessee auto accident. Studies have shown that more than half of those involved in a collision will sustain some type of facial trauma.
The severity of facial injuries suffered by victims varies, depending on the circumstances of the collision. Facial injuries range from temporary ones that heal quickly to more serious ones that leave permanent scars or disfigurement.
Facial injuries can typically be separated into four categories: soft tissue, bone, dental and joint injuries.
- Joint Injuries: Temporomandibular joint injuries, or TMJ, can sometimes occur when a car accident victims face hits the steering wheel. The collision of the face and the steering wheel can result in the fracture of jaw bones or the dislocation of the disk used to keep the jaw in place. TMJ victims do not experience any outward physical changes and often the only noticeable symptom is a swollen eye. TMJ can lead to locked jaw, limited mobility of the jaw joint, an abnormal bite, facial, neck and back pain, headaches and clicking jaw.
- Dental Injuries: Isolated injuries to teeth are very common and often require the expertise of dental specialists. Dental injuries can include fractures in the supporting bone and displaced or knocked out teeth.
- Facial Bone Injuries: Fractured facial bones are treated similarly to fracture in other parts of the body; however, since a cast cannot be placed on the face, doctors may have to use other methods in order to stabilize facial fractures. A common facial bone injury suffered by accident victims is a broken or fractured jaw.
- Soft Tissue Injuries: Lacerations, contusions, cuts and bruises are all commonly reported soft tissue facial injuries. Often, these types of injuries are treated with stitches. When treating a soft tissue facial injury, doctors must make sure they are aware of facial nerves, salivary glands and salivary ducts that may also have been injured.
Contact an Experienced Knoxville Facial Injury Attorney Today
While not all facial injuries are extensive, they should not be taken lightly as they affect an area of the body that is critical to breathing, eating, speaking and seeing. Even in seemingly moderate injuries, treatment will usually involve the expertise of specialists, which can become expensive.
At Greg Coleman Law, we understand that you need to focus on coping with your facial injuries rather than worry about how you will be able to afford treatment. If your face was seriously injured in Tennessee car accident, you may have reason to file a claim.
We offer free legal consultations to Knoxville accident victims. During your consultation, one of our legal professionals will review and assess the details of your claim and recommend the best course of action to take in pursuing legal and financial recourse for your losses.
To make sure that our clients are able to afford representation in their pursuit for justice, our personal injury law firm operates on a contingency fee basis. This means that if you choose to hire our attorneys, there is never any cost to you until we are able to successfully obtain a favorable outcome for your claim. If we fail to do this, you do not owe us any fees.
For more information on the legal rights which may be available to Tennessee facial injury victims or to schedule a confidential, no-obligation case evaluation with a personal injury lawyer from our team, we encourage you to contact us today by completing the Free Case Review form on this page.
