Burn Injuries Are Serious, and More Complex Than You May Think

One of the more terrible, not to mention painful injuries that can happen following an accident, is a burn. Many people think that burn injuries simply come from fire, but that’s not actually true. You can suffer burn injuries in a number of different ways—and not all burn injuries are the same.

How Burn Injuries Happen

Burns can happen any time there is heat, but that heat source doesn’t have to be from an actual flame. Burns can also happen from friction, such as when a body rubs against pavement or another rough surface.

Burns can, of course, happen as a result of electrocutions, and even exposure to certain chemicals—many people who have their airbags deploy suffer from minor burns because of the chemicals in the airbag.

First and Second Degree

Not every burn is the same—you’ve probably heard burns into degrees. Those aren’t just meaningless terms—the degree of burn that you have can make a big difference when it comes to disability or recovery.

At the lower end of the scale are first degree burns, which heal almost completely and within a quick amount of time. Even the typical sunburn is considered a minor first degree burn. Only the first, outermost layer of skin is affected by a first degree burn.

Second degree burns are much more significant; they often will require emergency medical care, skin grafts or other reconstructive surgeries. Treated properly, they can and do heal, but often will heal with permanent scarring and loss of mobility that comes with heavy scarring.

More Serious Degrees of Burns

Third degree burns go far below the skin, all the way down to the nerves. Ironically, this is why a victim of a third degree burn may feel less pain than someone who suffers a second degree burn—the nerves themselves have been damaged.

Of course, the opposite to that is that when healed, the third degree burn victim often has a permanent loss of sensation in the area.

We don’t hear much about fourth degree burns, but they are the worst kind; in a fourth degree burn, the entire skin has been burned, and now internal organs, muscle or tissue are damaged or exposed. Infection and shock are immediate risks. There is damage to the internal structures of the body.

Long Term Risks to Burns

With any type of serious burn, there is the risk of infection. Without the skin protecting the inner workings of the body, infection can easily take over a victim’s body and organs. Of course, shock can also kill burn victims, if they are not treated properly.

Even with burns that are considered “minor,” a victim who “completely heals,” is often still left with restricted range of motion, either because of nerve damage, or because of scarring—scar tissue is simply not as mobile and elastic as original skin is.

Schedule a consultation with our Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian today for help if you’ve suffered a burn–or any other type of injury–after an accident.

Sources:

hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/burns

stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/skin-hair-and-nails/burns/types.html