Burn injuries are some of the most excruciating and painful injuries that a person can experience. The American Burn Association reports that nearly 500,000 burn injuries receive medical treatment in hospitals around the country. This is a substantial number, suggesting that burn injuries are unfortunately relatively common in the United States. In some cases, the burn may result due to another person’s negligence or recklessness. Seeking assistance from an experienced burn injury attorney can help in recovering the damages associated with the injury.
Wright Gray is a Louisiana personal injury law firm with years of experience in handling burn injuries. As burn injury attorneys, we help our clients receive the compensation they deserve and uphold their rights under Louisiana state law. If you or a loved one was involved in a burn injury, consider contacting Wright Gray at 888-912-4944 to discuss your options.
What Are the Types of Burn Injuries?
In general, a burn injury occurs when there is a transfer of energy to the body, often resulting in pain and/or disfigurement of the body. Not all burn injuries are the same, however. To this point, there are different types of burn injuries that a person can sustain. Stanford Health Care sets forth four different types of burns:
- Thermal burns
- Radiation burns
- Chemical burns
- Electrical burns
Understanding which burn you have sustained is imperative to moving forward with the proper treatment plan. Moreover, each type of burn can range in severity, from first to third-degree.
What Are Thermal Burns?
Thermal burns are skin injuries that are caused by excessive heat, typically from hot surfaces, liquids, steam, or flame. These injuries can range in the extent of the surface area burned and the depth of the burn and can be further exasperated by other characteristics like age or existing medical conditions.
Thermal burns are the most common type of burn injury, comprising roughly 86% of the burned patients who require treatment at burn centers. There are certain risk factors associated with thermal burns, namely:
- Age: children are more likely to be burned by hot surfaces and liquids
- Gender: Men are at a higher risk, primarily due to occupational injuries
Burns occurring in the home make up a quarter of all serious burns, suggesting how commonplace these injuries can be and how easily these injuries can happen.
What Are Radiation Burns?
Radiation burns are caused by prolonged or extreme exposure to UV-rays, X-rays, or radiation therapy used to treat cancer. Sunburn is the most common form of radiation burn, but medical radiation also occurs relatively frequently. In some cases, medical radiation can lead to radiation dermatitis, which is caused largely by cancer-treating radiotherapy.
What Are Chemical Burns?
Chemical burns are caused by contact with a corrosive substance, for example strong acids, drain cleaners, paint thinner, or gasoline. Chemical burns can happen on the skin, eyes, mouth, or even internal organs, and can be extremely serious or even life-threatening. Generally, chemical burn injuries happen due to accidents, but in some cases, these injuries can arise from assault. Unfortunately, chemical burns can occur during trucking accidents, if the large semi-truck is carrying toxic materials.
What Are Electrical Burns?
The third most common type of burn injury after scald and flame burns (thermal), electrical burns are caused by electrical current, either alternating current or direct current. Electrical burn injuries can reach deep tissue, leading to excessive and life-altering medical and socioeconomic consequences.
Young adult males are at the highest risk for electrical burns, mostly due to industrial accidents at job sites. Due to the medical effects, a major loss in working hours and wages often results from electrical burns. In these situations, burn injury attorneys may be able to help recover these losses.
What Are The Long-Term Consequences Of Burn Injuries?
There is a significant amount of scientific literature regarding the long-term consequences of burn injuries. One long-term study of health and quality of life after burn injury states that major burns can have a lasting impact on a person’s health, resulting in persisting problems including:
- Scarring
- Contractures
- Weakness
- Thermoregulation
- Itching
- Pain
- Body image and psychosocial wellbeing issues
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Consistently, individuals who have endured burn injuries report limitations in quality of life compared to the general population. In some cases, psychological counseling is necessary to manage the emotional impact of burn injuries.
Patient outcomes depend greatly on the type and severity of the burn, however, major burns can sometimes lead to more persistent health issues. Seeking appropriate medical treatment as quickly as possible following a burn can help alleviate the negative effects of such injuries.
In addition to health consequences, burn injuries can have a significant financial impact on victims as well. Burn victims often require longer hospital stays than other patients and the average cost for burn injuries was higher than for other injuries. Moreover, burn injuries are vulnerable to infections, which can result in higher medical expenses. The care for major burn injuries extends beyond hospitalization, however, as many burn victims seek professional psychological assistance to recover from the trauma associated with the incident.
These costs can quickly add up and become unmanageable, which is why many burn victims seek assistance from burn injury attorneys to help alleviate some of the burden.
How Can Burn Injury Attorneys Help?
Experiencing a burn injury is often highly traumatic and can have lasting medical, emotional, and financial impacts on victims. This stress could become even more overwhelming if the burn occurred due to the recklessness or negligence of another party. In these cases, it is natural to seek compensation for the costs associated with the injury. Thankfully, burn injury attorneys with experience in handling such matters may be able to help.
At Wright Gray, we help burn victims recover damages associated with their injury. Leveraging our years of experience, we employ legal strategies to ensure that our client’s rights are upheld and that their cases are handled with the care they deserve. If you or a loved one was involved in a burn injury, we may be able to help. Call us today at 888-912-4944 to learn how we can fight for you.