Motorcycle Wrecks, Road Rash and Scarring

One of the serious injuries that often occurs from a motorcycle wreck injury are the road burns that occur to the skin of a rider or motorcycle passenger when they’re forced off the motorcycle and onto the pavement by a traffic accident. Even with the partial protection of leather and denim the scraping that occurs when a motorcyclist is dragged along the pavement for a substantial length of ground is substantial and will eat through a lot of fabric and material, particularly human skin.

The proof of the problems caused to the injured motorcycle rider after a wreck which is not their fault definitely needs to address injuries to their skin. As much documentation as possible should be obtained including photographs of what the injuries look like initially including the glass, gravel and other debris that’s often embedded in the skin after a motorcycle wreck. During the month of August we will be writing about motorcycle wrecks.

The procedures of cleaning and treating the damaged skin and other tissues is a big part of the pain and suffering that tends to occur after a motorcycle wreck. Also there are a lot of plastic surgery and appearance issues that often last well beyond the first year or two after a motorcycle wreck where there has been scarring.

Usually in the first days, weeks and months the main goal of the doctors is to treat life-threatening injuries and ones that involve major dysfunction like broken bones. However the road burns and scarring often go on for a very long time after the initial most major injuries have finished treatment. Some scarring can be addressed by a plastic surgeon and improved in terms of appearance.

Normally when I am working up a case of this sort I will have a plastic surgeon analyze what can be done if anything through plastic surgery procedures to reconstruct or improve the appearance of any scarring and to document the cost of the same. Whatever scars are likely to be permanent despite any medical intervention should be presented in a way that allows the injured person or a family member to explain how it affects the injured person’s self-esteem, quality of life, and sense of well-being.

Often scarring particularly in visible places like the arms and legs and especially the face can have very long lasting and severe emotional consequences as well as physical ones. Although it is not necessarily worse on a woman or a young person than for an older married male the effect on quality of life and the kinds of responses to permanent scarring from a motorcycle wreck are often quite different depending upon the stage of life and situation of the person who is harmed.

Cooper Hurley recently published the book What You Need to Know About Motorcycle Accidents in Virginia. If you have been injured in a motorcycle wreck due to the fault of another, call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757.455.007.