Car accidents are traumatic, especially if you are left with a facial scar. Because facial scars are difficult to conceal, they often lead to car accident survivors feeling overwhelmed, demoralized, or self-conscious. A legal expert in catastrophic injuries from car accidents can help you determine how much compensation for scar on the face and get the settlement you deserve to help cope with the short and long-term effects of a facial car accident scar.
What Causes Facial Scars In a Car Accident?
There are several ways that someone who is injured in a car accident could be left with a facial scar.
- Burns
- Road rash
- Cuts from shattered glass
- Injuries from flying debris
- Broken facial bones from impact
- Surgical procedures to address facial injuries
You could be a driver, front-seat passenger, rear-seat passenger, or pedestrian in an accident and end up with facial scarring. Unlike other parts of the body that may have been protected by clothing, a person’s face is unprotected from the impact of a car accident.
Types of Facial Scarring
There are three common types of scars that can result from a car accident.
Keloid Scars arise on the skin after an injury has healed. They are the result of excess collagen being produced by the body during the healing process. These bumpy scars can extend beyond the original injury.
Keloid scars are often treated by surgical removal, steroid injections, cryotherapy, laser therapy, and the application of silicone sheets.
Contracture Scars form as the skin heals from a large, sheet-like burn. These scars cause the skin to become much tighter than usual which can affect facial movement, the facial muscles, and nerves. There are a few medical treatments for contracture scars, including splinting, “pressure-dressing,” and exercises to improve range of motion.
Hypertrophic Scars, like keloid scars, are the result of the healing process. However, they do not extend past the boundaries of the original injury, laceration, or burn. These will sometimes go away on their own in the weeks and months following an injury. Silicone sheet treatment or steroid injections can treat hypertrophic scarring on the face.
How Long Do Facial Scars Last?
Some scars do fade over time, including facial scars. However, facial skin is sensitive and often does not return to its pre-injury condition. At the two-year mark, it is unlikely that you will see any additional improvement in facial scars. Permanent scars are an important part of the discussion with an attorney following your accident.
Can You Get Compensation for a Facial Scar from a Car Accident?
One reassuring thing to know is that facial scarring is grounds for compensation after a car accident. In California, several factors are taken into consideration by the courts when deciding on an appropriate payment amount for facial scarring.
These factors include:
- What is the scarring victim’s age?
- Younger accident victims are more likely to experience permanent scarring.
- A young person’s quality of life may be more severely impacted by a facial scar than an older adult’s.
- Have there been attempts to reduce the scarring through cosmetic surgery and medical treatments?
- A scar that resists treatment may have a higher compensation rate.
- Permanent scars deserve higher compensation than those that will fade with time.
- Providing a quote from a qualified plastic surgeon estimating the cost of scar repair or removal can increase the amount of payment offered for your case.
- What does the scar look like? What color is it and how big is it?
- Size, color, and shape of the scar play a factor in compensation.
- If you are left with a large, red scar on your face after a burn from an accident, your settlement will likely be larger than someone whose scar is small and white from a laceration.
- Where is the scar located on the face?
- Some courts have found that a scar that is on the side of the face that can be easily hidden by hair or clothing is worth less in compensation than a scar closer to the middle of the face.
- Has the scar been disabling?
- If the scar has led to a reduced range of motion, nerve or muscle pain, or any other permanent disability, that should be a part of the compensatory discussion.
- What are the psychological impacts of the scar?
- Like many victims, you may experience PTSD following your car accident injury. Feeling self-conscious in public or insecure about your facial scarring can harm your mental health.
- What is the marital status of the individual with the scar?
- California juries have found that an unmarried person may receive more compensation than someone who has a spouse. This may not seem fair, but it is something that has influenced the courts in the past.
- What is the gender of the victim?
- The courts have often awarded women more compensation for facial scars than men.
How Much Is Compensation for a Scar on the Face?
This is a difficult question to answer, but we have helped countless Californians gain the compensation they are entitled to. It isn’t uncommon for settlements related to significant facial scarring to be around $20,000-30,000, although some severe cases have led to far larger settlements.
You can greatly increase your compensation claim by working with an experienced attorney with a long track record of getting victims the money they deserve after personal injuries like car accident scars.
For a San Francisco catastrophic injury attorney you can count on, contact Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers at 877-380-8852, or schedule a free case evaluation here.
We are here to help you receive compensation for facial scarring, as well as property damage, pain and suffering, loss of wages, loss of consortium, loss of future earnings, medical bills, and more.
