When suffering from a severe burn injury, a reputable North Carolina burn injury lawyer can help heal wounds that are more than just skin deep. Unlike minor burns, severe burns can create scars that last a lifetime and effect other bodily organs that are not directly connected to the affected areas.
Our skin is not just a covering, it is a vital organ that helps regulate body temperature and hydration. Skin helps protect us from disease and other threats such as serious insect bites. Severe burns not only damage skin, but destroy hair follicles, sweat glands and affect skin elasticity. Severe burn injury victims often require multiple surgeries to replace damaged skin. This surgery, called a skin graft, is painful and expensive and results in scarring not just in the damaged area but in the area where the skin was taken from.
There may also be serious non-physical consequences for burn victims. Often, the trauma associated with a serious burn can be overwhelming and, not unlike other serious trauma, victims may suffer from PTSD and other psychological consequences. There is also the social stigma that may come with the unsightly scars form a serious burn.
Statistics show that most burns are caused by preventable accidents either at home or at work such as unattended cooking or falling asleep with a lit cigarette. However, many other burns are the result of product defects such as overheating appliances, bad electrical wiring, and defective furnaces. Car and truck fires are also frequently the result of a product defect such as a improperly designed fuel line.
Our Raleigh NC burn injury lawyers handle all types of burn injury cases including:
The severity of a burn injury will often dictate the type of treatment. For mild burns, treatment may sometimes involve only home care.
For significant burn injuries such as 3rd degree burns, a person may need skin graft surgery which, unfortunately, also damages the skin graft donor site. Many victims with 3rd degree burns have significant nerve damage aswell.
In situations where a burn results in scarring, a plastic surgeon may need to perform cosmetic surgery to minimize the appearance of scars. In the Raleigh area, most serious burn victims are transported to the UNC Burn Center in Chapel Hill for treatment.
The North Carolina burn accident lawyers at Hendren, Redwine & Malone have significant experience with burn accident cases. If you have a question about a North Carolina burn injury case, call attorney Mike Malone for a consultation. As with many of our cases, there is no fee unless we recover for you.