We help you seek proper compensation for your scars and disfiguring injuries in California.
Do you have scars, skin damage, limb damage, or disfigurement from an accident? Did your scars or surgical wounds come from a car crash or pedestrian injury? We can help. As California scarring and disfigurement lawyers, our team at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers helps people with skin and body damage from California car accidents and personal injuries. You may be able to recover full compensation for your losses and expensive medical bills, including ongoing treatments and plastic surgeries.
You’re not alone in this battle. Car and pedestrian accidents are on the rise in the U.S., including severe accidents that leave people with disfiguring injuries. Millions of people acquire scars every year, primarily from traumatic injuries and burns. A shocking 70% occur in children who may live with lifelong scarring.
Scars and disfiguring injuries come with enormous pain and trauma, so we’re here to provide caring, compassionate legal representation that eases your stress. Contact us now for a free scar/disfigurement case evaluation. Below is helpful information about pursuing compensation from the person who hurt you.
What’s Scarring and Disfigurement?
Scarring is the body’s natural process of healing from an injury and protecting you. However, scars can be unpleasant looking and may interfere with a person’s physical mobility and overall ability to live the same life as before the injury. The emotional damage can also be severe.
Disfigurements involve having an abnormal look, shape, skin texture, or movement in your body. For example, a car accident might leave someone with tight, roughly-textured skin that hampers their movement and causes them to walk with a limp. Facial and limb disfigurements can be particularly psychologically and physically devastating.
In a general legal sense, scars and disfigurements are lasting damage to the human body that leaves permanent imperfections, physical challenges, and/or emotional harm. Broadly speaking, the value of a legal case that involves these injuries arises from the extent of the damage and the age of the injured person who must endure their injuries for a long period.
From a medical perspective, disfiguring scars fall into four categories: keloid scars, contracture scars, hypertrophic scars, and adhesions. Disfigurements can also extend beyond scars into large, oddly-shaped imperfections that lend an abnormal appearance to the skin and body and/or impact movement.
Keloid scars
Keloid scars arise from the body’s overzealous attempt to heal itself by forming a thick sheet of protective tissue over the injured area. Small keloid scars often reduce in appearance over time and can be treated rather easily with freezing or pressure treatments.
Thicker and more widespread keloid scars may cause temporary or permanent mobility issues without treatment. A patient with thick keloids may need surgeries and procedures involving the muscles and nerves.
Contracture scars
Contracture scars form during the healing period and create tight patches of skin that make it difficult to move the injured parts of the body. These scars can either exist on the skin’s surface alone or can go much deeper into the nerves and muscles.
Hypertrophic scars
Raised, red, inflamed scars are known as hypertrophic scars. They typically become less red and noticeable over time but also need proper treatment to heal. Although hypertrophic scars are typically viewed as less severe than other types, they can still be severe and present an abnormal appearance to the skin.
Adhesions
Adhesions are a type of deep skin damage between internal organs. When the body has deep, abnormally-healed adhesions, damage can occur to organs, muscles, tissues, and nerves. Mobility can be awkward and the body is in a compromised state where further damage is possible due to the adhesions.
How Do Scars and Disfigurements Happen?
In the U.S., the primary causes of severe scars and disfigurements are accidents including traffic accidents, personal injuries, workplace injuries, and burn injuries. Violence and dog attacks are also common causes. Some types of scarring and disfigurement are also highly correlated with particular diseases/disorders, like cancer.
What’s the source of your scarring or disfiguring injury? See if it’s on the list below or similar to one of these common causes:
- Burn injury from a car accident
- Burn injury from a personal injury situation
- Workplace injuries
- Injury due to a mechanical/equipment malfunction
- Contact with a spilled fluid or vapor
- An electrical fire or shock
- Non-burn scarring injuries from traffic crashes
- Motorcycle, bicycle, and scooter accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Violence/crime
- Dog bite injuries
Road accidents with fuel tank ignition are the #1 cause of fires and explosions, including those that lead to scars and disfiguring injuries. In California, we have a high rate of high-speed freeway crashes and semi-truck crashes, which are among the top causes of severe road-related injuries.
Motorcycle crashes and pedestrian accidents are also common situations where people experience severe scarring. A motorcyclist or pedestrian is vulnerable to larger vehicles crashing into them and leaving them with severe injuries that could disfigure them for life.
Scarring and Disfigurement Disrupts Your Life
Skin scarring is one of the most physically and emotionally devastating injuries anyone can ever experience. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that people with scars and disfigurements are at a high risk of:
- Sleep disturbances
- Pain and tenderness
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Severe itching
- Inability to complete daily activities
- Post-traumatic stress reactions
- Loss of self-esteem
- Social stigmatization
- Diminished quality of life
Even mild to moderate scars usually take a minimum of 2 to 3 years to fade and become more pale, according to the NIH. In the meantime, a person with scarring often experiences a period of challenging emotional coping regarding their appearance and encountering the judgment of others.
Patients with scars and disfigurements are among the most challenging medical cases. There is wide variation in outcomes among scarred patients and the treatments that work for one patient might not work as well for another patient. For example, scars on the face, hands, and sternum are significantly more difficult to treat than those on other areas of the body and may require the involvement of a specialty hand surgeon or plastic surgeon.
On top of these concerns, there’s the impact on your financial stability. It could cost a minimum of $10,000 to $100,000 to treat your injuries. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that each session for scar-healing laser treatments is about $1,100 to $2,000 and a patient may need numerous sessions to restore the skin’s natural look and texture.
California Truck Accidents Cause Scars and Disfigurement
California’s roads see more than 100,000 truck accidents every year. What if you were scarred, burned, disfigured, or suffered an amputation in a severe truck crash? You’ll be lucky to survive, but will the trucker cover your costs and damages?
Trucking companies are heavily monitored by the state of California and federal agencies. They must carry large trucking insurance policies to assist injured victims. You may be eligible for high-dollar compensation that helps ease your burden.
California Motorcycle Accidents With Scars/Disfigurement
Did your injuries arise from a motorcycle accident? We have tens of thousands of motorcyclists here in California, yet there’s still a stigma that motorcyclists aren’t welcome to share the roads.
You could face stereotypes that make it difficult to gain the fair compensation you deserve. Make sure you work with a motorcycle injury scar and disfigurement lawyer who has experience with these types of cases.
California Pedestrian Accidents With Risk of Scarring Injuries
A pedestrian accident could leave you with extremely painful and noticeable injuries with scars and disfigurement. Your body is no match for a huge truck or car that slams into your body.
There’s no reason to hit a pedestrian, but the person who hurt you might try to make excuses. Being distracted, drowsy, drunk, or on drugs is no excuse for hurting a pedestrian! California’s pedestrians have strong legal protections, so speak to a lawyer about your options.
Tips for Starting Your California Scarring/Disfigurement Claim
Your next steps after a scarring/disfigurement accident impact your ability to gain the fullest possible compensation. A strong scarring/disfigurement claim must be backed up with medical records and bills that prove the impact of your injuries on your life, finances, health, and emotional state.
Go to the emergency room if necessary and prepare for a hospital stay. Burns, scars, and disfigurements typically require long hospital visits plus surgeries and follow-up care. Save all of your bills and receipts for out-of-pocket costs above and beyond what insurance covers. Continue saving evidence of your rehab, scar care, and plastic surgery.
Are you missing work due to your injuries? You can demand payment for your lost wages and diminished earning capacity due to the accident. If you have emotional trauma, request compensation for pain and suffering.
If you’re too injured to do so on your own, talk to your lawyer about gathering evidence from the scene of the accident that caused your injuries. On-scene photos and video are ideal, but you can still take pictures and video clips later to support your case. Try to obtain surveillance video from nearby homes and businesses too.
Request a copy of the police report from the police department. Look it over, but don’t be too concerned if the details don’t match your version of the story. There could be plenty of other evidence and your lawyer can help you fill in the details through their investigatory work.
We encourage every client to keep a journal of their daily struggles. Explain how your daily life has been more difficult since your accident. Show your scars to the audience, which could include a judge, jury, insurance company, and the person who hurt you.
This is important: Don’t sign anything or agree to anything before talking to your lawyer. Also, make sure you don’t give a recorded statement or give out your private information, like your social security number before discussing it with your lawyer first.
Beware of a fast, low-ball offer from the other person’s insurance company or anyone else. The first offer is usually a bad deal for the victim. Your scarring and disfigurement lawyer will help you get the full and fair value of your scarring and disfigurement claim.
Keep the deadline in mind, too. California’s statute of limitations usually restricts these cases to a tight timeline. File your case within two years of the date of the accident. If it happened on government property or involves a government agency, the deadline is within six months of the date of your scarring/disfigurement incident.
We’re Here to Help You Focus on Moving Forward
California law allows you to hold a negligent person responsible for hurting you. Contact a highly-rated scarring and disfigurement lawyer to discuss starting a case for valuable compensation that helps you move on with your life.
You could have a strong case for injury compensation that covers your medical bills, lost wages, and many other types of damages. You probably won’t ever have to go to court because we handle out-of-court settlements.
Our team of experienced attorneys will work to negotiate an arrangement that allows you to focus on recovering with the resources you need for your medical care and more. You’re our partner in the process and our focus is always on reducing your stress, minimizing your bills, and maximizing your claim’s value.
For example, we could work with your medical providers to lower your medical bills so they’re much more manageable. Another technique we use is giving proper value to your immense pain and suffering from your scarring and disfigurement injuries, which raises your case value and leaves you with more money at the end of your case.
Please reach out to us at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers for compassionate scarring and disfigurement legal representation. We’ll help you focus on recovering from your injuries while we handle the legal details. Contact for a free online scarring and disfigurement case evaluation or call 877-380-8852.