Facial injuries are often overlooked when talking about accidents. Unfortunately, countless people can suffer major facial injuries in all sorts of collisions or incidents, including car and pedestrian crashes. Call Stewart Miller Simmon Trial Attorneys today to talk about your injuries and what happened. In certain situations, you can receive financial compensation in a settlement from the person or business at fault for your injuries. An Atlanta personal injury lawyer takes a close look at nasal injuries in this article. We encourage anyone who has suffered a nose injury to reach out to our firm.
How People Suffer Nasal Injuries
Because the nose juts out from a person’s face, it is prone to serious injury in all kinds of accidents. The mechanism for most nasal injuries is a traumatic blow to the face. Many people suffer serious facial injuries in:
- Slip and falls. A person can fall forward and be unable to brace themselves for impact, landing directly on their face and damaging their nose.
- Bicycle accidents. Helmets provide no protection to the face, which you can land on when thrown off a bicycle.
- Motor vehicle collisions. Seat belts and airbags should restrain motorists. Nonetheless, you could suffer a nose injury if a seat belt fails or if an airbag deploys with too much force—or doesn’t deploy at all.
- Pedestrian accidents. Pedestrians often suffer horrifying facial injuries when struck crossing the road or a parking lot. They can easily be knocked forward when struck from behind.
- Dog attacks. A dog can maul a victim’s face, injuring the nose, mouth, and eyes. These are terrifying incidents.
- Defective products. A product which explodes in someone’s face can end up damaging the nose.
Common Nose Injuries
We often help clients struggling with nose fractures and nerve injuries.
Broken Nose
People associate a broken nose with boxing. But any impact can break the septum, which divides the nasal cavity. A broken nose often shows up as a deviated septum, meaning the nose is leaning toward one side. This is often the first sign something is wrong.
A broken nose is painful. It is also disfiguring. Victims can struggle to breathe through a broken nose and deal with constant nosebleeds or stuffy sinuses. Go to the doctor’s office after an accident if your nose looks “out of joint.”
Many patients need surgery to correct both the internal structure of the nose (which restores normal breathing), as well as the external shape (which improves self-esteem). The most common procedure is a septorhinoplasty which addresses both the internal and outside configuration of the nose. This is an expensive procedure and should require some “down time” to recover.
Nerve Injuries
The olfactory nerve plays a vital role in your sense of smell. Some horrifying facial injuries will end up damaging this nerve, which is connected to smell receptors. As a result, your sense of smell could be impaired. You should go to the hospital to discuss possible nerve injuries if:
- Lose sense of smell completely
- Lose the ability to smell some scents but not others
- Lose your sense of taste
- Experience phantom smells (odors which are not present)
Some nerve injuries heal on their own given sufficient rest. The olfactory nerves might be only temporarily impacted; after a few weeks, it could return to normal. Unfortunately, other people suffer permanent damage to the olfactory nerve and will never be able to smell again.
In today’s world, losing your sense of smell is not really a life-threatening condition. However, it certainly reduces your quality of life and deserves compensation.
Nasal Abrasions
Someone who falls off a bicycle or motorcycle face first could drag their face on the asphalt or dirt. Serious abrasion injuries are common. Abrasions on the nose pose many risks, including the risk of infection but also severe scarring and disfigurement as the wound heals.
Go to the hospital. A doctor might need to perform skin grafts to close the wound. Antibiotics can help keep any possible infection at bay.
Scarring is emotionally embarrassing for people. Although not life threatening, severe scarring can lead to depression or anxiety, which also deserves meaningful compensation.
Nose Injury Settlements
We can request financial compensation for any nose injury:
- The cost of nose surgery or other medical treatment, such as skin grafts, pain medication, and antibiotics.
- Mental health counseling or behavioral therapy, to help a patient overcome the emotional trauma of a serious nose injury.
- Lost income/wages as the victim recovers from their nose injury.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. Losing a sense of smell should be compensated since your life is permanently changes.
- Pain and suffering. A broken nose is painful and can keep someone from sleeping.
- Mental anguish or distress. Facial injuries are often mentally taxing and lead to social withdrawal.
Call our firm to discuss a possible settlement. With facial injuries, your medical bills might not be very large, but you can still seek financial compensation for general damages like pain, disfigurement, embarrassment, and depression. Do not assume your case is too minor.
We might also seek punitive damages, depending on the facts. For example, a drunk driver could have crashed into you. Punitive damages are a way to punish someone for that type of horrific conduct.
Who Do We Sue for Your Injuries?
The defendant will depend on your accident. We have sued distracted or negligent motorists, property owners, dog owners, and others. We might need to investigate to really pin down what happened to injure you.
Imagine you are riding a bicycle down the street when you are hit from behind. You might be knocked unconscious. Call our firm. We can visit the accident scene and talk to any witnesses identified in the police report. A nearby business could have a security camera pointed to the road or sidewalk which records the accident and the driver’s license plate number.
Our Consultations are Free
Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys believes Georgians deserve high-quality legal representation when they take on insurance companies after an accident. We have won billions of dollars for our clients, and we’ll bring the same level of professionalism to your case. Call (404) 529-3476 to schedule a consultation.