While many people think of broken arms or back pain when dealing with the aftermath of a slip and fall accident, facial injuries are more common than you may expect. When a grocery store doesn’t clean up spills or a property owner doesn’t fix broken stairways, it becomes extremely easy for victims to suffer serious damage to their face and teeth. Because facial injuries are often disfiguring and cause emotional distress, they can have a major impact on your potential compensation in a personal injury lawsuit.
Slip and Fall Accidents Bring Serious Risk of Facial Injury
Different areas of the face are vulnerable to sustaining damage in a slip accident depending on where the accident takes place and how the victim lands. Dental injuries in particular can be extremely expensive and lead to a serious reduction in overall quality of life.
Even if your teeth escape serious harm, you can still deal with involuntary drooling, jaw stiffness, pain, numbness, swelling, scarring, and other repercussions likely to have a negative impact on your day-to-day life. Needing to have your jaw wired shut to prevent movement during healing, for instance, is extremely disruptive to normal daily activity and can impact a settlement or insurance claim.
Any head wound can potentially also result in damage to brain tissue, even if you fall forward or nothing penetrates the skull during the fall. In addition to dislocated jaws, facial lacerations, and the possibility of a traumatic brain injury, victims in slip and fall accidents are particularly susceptible to fractures involving:
- Cheekbones
- Jaws
- Nose
- Teeth
Impact of a Face Injury in a Pennsylvania Slip and Fall Case
After any type of fall resulting in physical harm, you should contact an attorney to review your case and perform a comprehensive investigation of the accident. There are important actions to take before contacting a legal professional, however. Anyone who hurts their face in a fall needs to visit a doctor and dentist quickly to assess the extent of the injuries and create a paper trail that can be used as legal evidence in court.
An experienced slip and fall attorney can gather and preserve evidence proving when your accident occurred, that your injury didn’t come from some previous incident, and that negligent behavior directly led to your fall. Your lawyer also assists in placing a value on the damages you are owed by the negligent party.
The size and location of any facial scarring, as well as permanent damage to the jaw or teeth, can radically affect the amount you deserve. In a slip and fall involving a face injury, you can specifically seek damages for:
- Any out-of-pocket costs stemming from the injury
- Emotional distress, suffering, and lost quality of life
- Income lost while recovering from the fall
- Future earning potential impacted by a slip and fall injury
- Medical appointments and healthcare costs
- Physical pain
- Surgeries
Facial disfigurement in particular has the possibility of interfering with your earning potential or causing extreme emotional issues over a long period of time. Because those elements greatly increase the damages owed, the insurance provider or at-fault party are both likely to fight back against paying a fair amount.
That’s why it’s crucial to retain a legal professional who has dealt with these types of cases before and has a track record of successfully representing clients after a slip and fall. To recover compensation, you will need to show that the property owner or some other party knew a problem existed but didn’t fix it, such as:
- Debris or unsecured cables left on floors
- Liquid spills in aisles
- Inadequate lighting, especially in staircases
- Snowy or icy walkways
- Uneven flooring
- Torn rugs
Contact an Experienced Slip and Fall Attorney Today
Suffering a severe facial injury in a slip and fall is a massive life setback, but the good news is that you don’t have to navigate the financial recovery process alone. A slip and fall lawyer can help you protect your legal rights and hold the at-fault party responsible for your injury. If you or someone you love was hurt in a fall, set up a free consultation with Heslin Law Firm to discuss your case.
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