Facial Injuries from Car Accidents

It's not uncommon for victims of motor vehicle collisions to suffer facial trauma.

In a car wreck, the victim's head, face, and neck are at risk of impact due to the proximity to the steering wheel, dashboard, windows, and airbags.

The forces involved in a crash can easily break bones, and face injuries can be especially painful and result in significant medical expenses.

Injuries to the face can have a profound impact on victims with the risk of infection, potential for permanent scarring, and the psychological impact of disfigurement.

Face injuries can have a major impact on a victim's quality of life.

There is a good chance in a serious collision, you will suffer some sort of facial injury even with seatbelts and airbags.

Contact Lawsuit Legal to speak with a car accident lawyer for a free consultation to secure your right to compensation. Our attorneys have represented hundreds of auto accident victims and know what it takes to see you get paid what you deserve.

If you were hurt in an accident due to another driver's negligence, you could be entitled to compensation for medical bills, treatment costs, and lost wages.

The most common car accident facial injuries we encounter include:

The fragile bones in the face can be easily broken from a blow to a hard object. In a car crash, the head can violently impact with a variety of objects, including the steering wheel, loose objects, windshield, and dash. The deployment of the airbag itself, meant to save lives, is a common cause of facial injuries in car accidents. The face contains 14 bones, with the nasal bones being the most fragile. The violent forces involved when a driver's head hits a hard object can put even the strongest of facial bones at risk of breaking if the strike is violent enough.

Nasal Fractures / Broken Nose:

The fragile nasal bones are the most commonly broken in car accidents. In vehicles with equipped airbags, the deployment involves forces that can break the victim's nose in some cases. When a driver's head whips forward and strikes the steering wheel the fragile nasal bones can be fractured. Minor breaks may result in a bloody nose and call for pain management and setting for treatment. More severe fractures can require extensive attention from a specialist to repair. A broken nose can be painful and involve swelling, numbness, and bruising surrounding the impacted area.

Orbital Fractures:

An orbital fracture refers to a break in the bones surrounding the eye, often resulting from the force of a car accident. This type of injury can lead to serious complications, including blurred or double vision, pain, swelling, bruising, and cause difficulty moving the eye. Where there is significant damage to the orbital bone the eye itself is at risk. Legally, compensation for an orbital fracture from a car accident can cover medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other accident-related damages.

Jaw Fractures:

A jaw fracture from a car accident involves a break in one or more of the jawbones (mandible or maxilla) due to the impact of the collision. A broken jaw can result in painful swelling, bruising, and difficulty opening the mouth or chewing. Treatment can include wiring the jaw shut to immobilize the jaw for healing and surgical intervention for realignment and fixation of the bone. Recovery time can be extensive, often requiring a liquid or soft diet and impacting speech and daily activities. In severe cases, a jaw injury can result in potentially long-term disability if the injury impacts the crash victim's ability to return to work or their quality of life.

Broken Forehead Bones:

A break in the bone that forms the forehead requires a substantial force of impact. This type of injury can lead to visible deformities, swelling, bruising, and in some cases, complications such as sinus damage or brain injury. A frontal bone fracture can lead to cognitive issues or disfigurement that can impact the victim's ability to work or perform daily activities and can have long-term effects on appearance and brain function.

Cheekbone Fractures:

A zygomatic fracture, or cheekbone fracture, is common in car accidents resulting from direct impacts to the face. Symptoms typically include swelling, bruising around the eyes and cheeks, flatness of the cheek, and pain, especially when the mouth is opened or the cheek is touched. A broken cheekbone can affect the appearance of the victims face, providing grounds for a disfigurement claim. Vision problems and numbness in the face due to nerve damage can also occur. Depending on the severity of injury long-term care may be required if there are complications like nerve damage or significant disfigurement.

Facial fractures may require multiple trips to the doctor for treatment, pain management, and rehabilitation. Treating these injuries can incur significant medical expenses and specialist surgery is often necessary to repair the broken bones. The risk for scarring and disfigurement is high and victims of car accidents involving facial injuries face reliving the emotional trauma for the rest of their lives when they look in the mirror.

Brain Injuries

Various types of brain injury often accompany facial trauma suffered in a car accident. Any blow to the the head strong enough to break bone has the potential to cause damage to the sensitive brain tissues and surrounding membrane housed inside the skull. Traumatic brain injuries can range from mild (concussions) to severe, leading to long-term or permanent cognitive, physical, and behavioral impairments. Symptoms can vary widely, including headaches, confusion, dizziness, memory loss, mood changes, and, in severe cases, seizures or coma.

Coup Brain Injury:

A car accident caused coup brain injury occurs when the brain is injured directly under the site of impact with an object, for example when the head strikes the steering wheel or dashboard. This type of injury is characterized by bruising and tissue damage at the site of impact. Depending on the severity of injury, symptoms can range from headaches, confusion, and dizziness to more severe cognitive, physical, and emotional disturbances.

Concussion:

A concussion from a car accident is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from a blow to the head or a sudden jolt from the force of impact. Cognitive damage can exhibit several symptoms, including headache, confusion, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and, in some cases, temporary loss of consciousness. In a recent case, the crash victim could not remember what happened. An auto accident concussion can have significant short-term impacts on cognitive function and quality of life. In some cases crash victims may experience symptoms for longer, a condition known as post-concussion syndrome.

Brain Hemorrhage:

A brain bleed, or intracranial hemorrhage, from a car accident, is a potentially life-threatening condition where bleeding occurs within the skull due to collision trauma. This can happen when the force of trauma in a crash causes a blood vessel in the brain to rupture or leak. If left untreated, a car accident brain bleed can be fatal for the crash victim. Immediate medical intervention is critical to relieve pressure on the brain and prevent further damage.

The severity of the brain injury sustained and the nature of the damage caused factor significantly into whether the victim faces long-term neurological deficits or full recovery. A skilled car accident attorney can help injured victims recover fast and fair compensation from the at-fault driver's insurance for emergency and ongoing medical treatment, rehabilitation, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Car crashes are violent events involving flying debris, with broken glass, loose objects, and metal flying through the air. It's understandable why trauma to the facial soft tissues ranks among the most common types of car accident injuries that puts people in the emergency rooms in hospitals. It can lead to disfigurement and scarring, and a variety of other complications if not treated.

Facial Abrasions:

Abrasion injuries from a car accident, called road rash, occur when the skin is scraped or rubbed away due to friction with a surface. Road rash is a common injury suffered by motorcycle riders when exposed skin rubs across the road in an accident. In car accidents, these injuries can result from being thrown against parts of the vehicle’s interior or through contact with the road in the event of ejection. Abrasions can be especially painful and can lead to bleeding, burns, and the risk of infection.

Facial Lacerations:

Cuts or tears in the face are often caused by shattered glass, metal fragments, or an impact on the vehicle's interior during a collision. These injuries can range from minor cuts requiring simple suturing to deep wounds that may involve muscles, nerves, or bones, necessitating complex surgical repair. In some severe cases reconstructive surgery is required to minimize scarring and restore function.

Facial Burns:

Victims of car crashes can suffer facial burn injuries caused by exposure to fire, chemicals, or friction. Severe burns can penetrate the layers of the skin to damage the underlying muscle tissue, tendons, and bones below the surface. Burns can require skin grafting for treatment is severe cases and require extensive cosmetic surgery to improve function and appearance.

Eye Injuries

Eye injuries from a car accident can range from minor abrasions from airbag deployment or shattered glass, to severe trauma such as orbital fractures or retinal detachment mentioned above. Symptoms can include pain, blurred vision, visual loss, or the appearance of floaters or flashes of light. Immediate medical evaluation from a specialist is crucial to assess the injury's extent and initiate appropriate treatment. Surgery for more serious conditions like retinal detachment or globe rupture may be required to avoid permanent blindness. Recovery depends on the injury's severity, with some injuries potentially leading to permanent vision loss or impairment.

Dental Injuries

Oral injuries in a car accident can include a range of issues from chipped or cracked teeth to avulsion, where teeth are completely knocked out. A direct impact to the mouth in a collision easily has the force required to knock out teeth. Hitting the steering wheel or dashboard directly in the mouth is the most common cause of oral injury, but the plastic deployment canisters can fire debris at speeds of 200 mph or more toward the face upon deployment as well.