One of the most common types of injury for anyone, regardless of age or occupation, is a burn injury. From an early age, people are taught to be wary of burns, from staying away from fires to being careful around hot pans. Just because an injury type is common doesn’t mean that the injuries are minor.
A burn injury, on its surface, is a skin injury, but that doesn’t mean that the damage is only cosmetic. A significant burn can lead to extreme pain and suffering and, in some cases, death. And if the burns are part of an accident caused by another’s negligence, there are options for you.
Skin deep injuries
Your skin is the largest organ on your body, and it is made up of several cooperative layers. From the surface of the epidermis to the blood vessels and nerves deep within the dermis layer, your skin is responsible for protecting your internal organs and providing sensory information. Damage like cuts and scrapes typically will puncture through the outer layers, but a burn is different.
A burn will cause damage not in one acute place, but rather in a wide area. Burns cause wounds that do not close easily, and because of that, they carry greater risks of infection.
Types of burns
You can get a burn from friction, chemicals, heat, cold, electricity, radiation and the sun, but the “mechanism” of the burn will matter less than the degree. The degree of a burn measures how deep it goes:
- First-degree burns: These are minor, typically the sort of burns you’d get from a light sunburn, red skin, maybe it will peel as it heals, and hurt a little.
- Second-degree burns: Also called “partial thickness” burns, they range from minor burns that blister to deeper, excruciating burns that will require immediate medical attention and probably leave a scar.
- Third-degree burns: These are full-thickness burns. This means that every layer of the skin is damaged all the way down. These burns require immediate medical attention.
Burns that go through the skin and damage bone and other organs are fourth-degree burns.
Fast-acting injuries
The fact of the matter is, a severe burn that can change your life can happen in just a few seconds. If a car catches fire in an accident, if you splashed with caustic chemicals, if you brush up against improperly secured, high-voltage wiring, you can have burns that will change your life in the space of a few seconds.
On top of how fast they can happen, they cost a lot to recover from, and you do not deserve to have your recovery limited by an insurance company.