Many Oklahoma drivers know the feeling of getting in a car accident. According to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, 61,739 motor vehicle accidents happened in this state in 2020. When accidents happen, it’s common to walk away from this stressful situation with facial injuries.
Soft tissue damage
There are many ligaments, muscles and tendons on and around your face. This soft tissue often gets cut or scraped during a car accident. More often than not, jagged and broken parts of a crashed automobile damage the skin in many ways.
Examples of post-accident soft tissue damage to the face can include:
- Cuts
- Scrapes
- Severely torn skin
- Burns
Fractures
Research shows that facial injuries most commonly happen due to car accidents. Unfortunately, some of these injuries result in facial fractures. Fractures typically affect vital functions, including eating, speaking or seeing. Severe fractures can also distort someone’s facial skeletal structure.
A few examples of facial fractures are:
- A cracked or broken jaw
- Chipped, broken or knocked-out teeth
- Broken eye sockets, typically occurring through an orbital floor or rim fracture.
The healing process after facial injuries happen
The plan to heal someone with facial trauma varies on the severity of their injuries. Medical professionals can quickly treat minor injuries with prescription-strength creams or ointments. Facial fractures typically require more time and effort to heal. Since facial fractures can hinder important functions, medical specialists treat these injuries quickly.
Make sure you contact emergency services or seek medical attention after a car accident. Pain or bleeding makes certain facial injuries easy to notice. But a medical professional might be the only person to realize less obvious facial injuries.