Facial injuries can occur due to various incidents, including motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries and falls. The human face is a complex area, comprising numerous bones, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and sensory organs. When left untreated, facial trauma can lead to pain, loss of function and disfigurement. However, with the expertise of emergency doctors, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and other practitioners, the impact of facial injuries can be minimized, and function and form can be restored through plastic and reconstructive surgery.

What is facial trauma?

Facial trauma involves damage to the bones or soft tissues of the face resulting from accidents, burns, chemical exposures, animal bites and more. The consequences of untreated facial trauma can lead to permanent loss of function (such as vision, chewing, speaking and swallowing) and disfigurement.

Types of facial injuries

Facial injuries can come in various forms, including:

• Facial fractures: Severe fractures in the facial bones can impair function and distort the appearance. They can range from broken jaws affecting eating and speaking to fractures in the midface or eye sockets that necessitate surgical interventions.
• Facial soft tissue injuries: These injuries involve torn skin, facial lacerations, cuts, burns and damage to salivary glands and nerves. These injuries raise the risk of bleeding, infection, and scarring and can affect a person’s ability to smile, swallow and speak.

Healing traumatic facial injuries

Plastic and reconstructive surgeons have two primary goals in treating facial trauma. First, they aim to restore normal function. The focus is on restoring the patient’s ability to see, breathe, chew, swallow, speak and move facial muscles.

Second, they focus on appearance. While functional restoration takes precedence, plastic and reconstructive surgeons also consider the patient’s appearance during the decision-making process.

Addressing facial trauma may require collaboration between different medical specialties:

• Ophthalmology: Experts in this field are essential when the patient’s injuries involve the eyes. They can monitor vision and eye movement throughout the healing process.
• Neurosurgery: Collaboration with neurosurgery may involve planning reconstruction, grafting and nerve transfers to restore movement and sensation to the face.
• Dental experts: Dental professionals can provide necessary treatments for palate injuries, realign the patient’s bite, and repair broken or lost teeth with implants.
• Speech pathologists: They can help patients retrain their speech following injuries to the jaw, tongue, or mouth.
• Mental health practitioners: Addressing post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression related to the injury or its treatment is crucial for the patient’s overall well-being, particularly for children.

If you’ve suffered facial injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence or recklessness, call the Law Offices of Tim Misny today.

Discuss your case with an Ohio personal injury lawyer today

The Law Offices of Tim Misny can help you with your facial injury claim. When you’re the victim of negligence or recklessness, I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at (877) 614-9524 so that I can evaluate your case right away.