When you’re hit by another driver, there are many issues that you may have to deal with. Depending on the kinds of injuries you have, you may need surgery or to go through other treatments that are both painful and costly.
It can feel even worse to recover from everything you’ve been through and to have scarring that feels like it’s holding you back. Sometimes, you may feel that the scarring just looks unattractive, but other times, scarring could cause physical issues.
The types of scars that might impact your recovery
There are several kinds of scars that could impact your recovery. The main kinds of scars to know include:
- Contracture scars, which are scars where the skin has contracted after a burn or other kind of injury. Contracture scars may go deep into the nerves and muscles, which could mean that they’re painful or affect the way your muscles work. Contracture scars contract the skin, so it can be hard to move with them.
- Keloid scars occur when the body heals in an over-aggressive way. Instead of healing only the original injury, the scar extends. This kind of scar can make it difficult to move.
- Hypertrophic scars are raised but don’t go beyond the original boundary of the injury.
Any of these kinds of scars can be problematic for someone who is trying to recover from a serious injury. The good news is that there are some treatments that may help correct them. For example, you may try cryotherapy to treat a smaller keloid scar or be able to use steroid injections to reduce inflammation around a scar.
Unfortunately, in some cases, scars do have to be surgically removed when they hamper your movement too much. This surgery could lead to additional scarring or, in some cases, actually improve the area by removing the original scar and allowing the skin to heal again while being monitored to reduce scarring.
Scars can have a massive impact on your life, so it is important to consider them when you make your personal injury claim against the driver who hit you. You deserve the opportunity to seek the compensation you’ll need to treat these and other medical issues you have as a result of a collision.