If you’ve ever encountered someone with distorted features or significant scarring, then they may have suffered such injuries in a fire. While many individuals who are burned heal within a few days or weeks, countless others are left with noticeable scarring. These scars are often more life-altering than they seem on the surface.
Data compiled by the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) shows that individuals who suffer burns that take an excess of 21 days to heal are likely to need skin grafting. This type of surgery may leave a patient with hypertrophic scars.
Hypertrophic scars consist of an area of raised skin or tissue within the boundaries of the original burn area. This type of scar doesn’t only affect aesthetics but can limit the functionality of a patient’s limbs.
The hypertrophic scars that form along a patient’s joints are referred to as contractures. These may affect a person’s ability to move about.
Contractures along an individual’s arms or trunk may impact their ability to bathe, eat, self-groom or dress. A person with a similar type of injury along their legs may have difficulty climbing stairs, sitting, walking or squatting.
Individuals can minimize the impact of their contracture injuries on their limb functionality by keeping their wounds moisturized and by stretching as many as six times daily.
Another common side effect of having this type of scarring is that it leaves patients with a deterioration in their skin quality. It may easily crack or dry out making a burn victim prone to infection. Patients can greatly improve their plight by maintaining a regular moisturizing regimen.
Burns are quite complex to diagnose and treat. This is why you must allow an experienced medical professional to check out your injury. This may keep it from getting infected, help you avoid scarring and may flat out save your life.
While many individuals engage in reckless behaviors that result in themselves getting hurt, countless others are injured due to someone else’s negligence. An attorney can help you hold a negligent party accountable for their reckless actions that left you hurt here in Augusta. Your lawyer can help you recover the compensation necessary to pay your medical bills as you navigate life with a burn injury here in Georgia.