When skin is ripped from the underlying muscle and tissue, this is known as degloving, and it can lead to serious short- and long-term effects. If the degloving injury occurred on the job, you may file a workers’ compensation claim. Under some circumstances, you may even be able to file a personal injury lawsuit and receive even greater compensation. To learn more about your legal options and how you may receive compensation, reach out to an experienced Gastonia workers’ compensation lawyer at Horton & Mendez Injury Attorneys. We are standing by, ready to help you.
What Is a Degloving Injury?
Degloving is a traumatic injury to the skin where the skin is ripped away from the muscle, tissue, or bone. Degloving injuries can occur anywhere on the body. They most commonly occur in the limbs, but they can also occur on the face and chest.
Degloving injuries occur when there are two forces that pull the body in opposite directions.
These injuries cause the soft tissue in the body to be pulled apart. Degloving injuries can occur when an extremity or other part of your body gets caught or when you suffer a high-impact trauma.
Common Causes of Degloving Injuries
In degloving, the skin gets pulled outward away from the body. Something would generally cause you to become trapped, and the skin gets ripped apart from the rest of the body.
Common causes of degloving injuries include:
- Machinery accidents: A part of your body could become trapped in a piece of machinery, which grabs a hold of the skin and pulls it.
- Motorcycle accidents: Your body may become trapped under the motorcycle while the skin is pulled away by other forces.
- Animal attacks: When you are bitten by an animal, their teeth can grab hold of your outer layers of skin and pull it away from the muscle.
- Pedestrian accidents: Being run over by a vehicle at a low speed could cause the skin to separate from the rest of the body.
- Falls from heights: A fall can cause the type of high-energy trauma that can rip away the skin, especially when you make impact with a hard surface.
Types of Degloving Injuries
Degloving injuries can be internal or external. Internal injuries can be extremely dangerous because they are not seen, and you may not realize the severity and extent of the injury until it begins to cause severe effects. An internal injury can fill with fluids and lead to a serious infection.
External degloving injuries are equally as dangerous. These will be visible injuries that can be so deep that the bone is exposed. External injuries are easier to spot and can change your appearance and lead to permanent scarring.
Degloving injuries require immediate medical treatment, or you may suffer serious consequences. A degloving injury can lead to a serious infection or even amputation if the infection is severe enough. Degloving can also lead to compartment syndrome, where a significant amount of pressure is exerted on the muscles. In serious cases, compartment syndrome can lead to kidney failure.
How To Prevent Degloving Injuries
One way to prevent degloving injuries on your finger, for example, is to avoid wearing a ring when you are undertaking dangerous activities or working with heavy machinery. If your ring gets caught in the machinery, it can pull away the skin on your finger.
If you have already suffered a degloving injury, it is crucial that you receive immediate medical help and take care of your skin to prevent the situation from getting worse. A doctor may remove some of the damage or destroyed skin to keep it from getting infected. They may also perform a procedure to reattach some of the skin that has been ripped away.
You should keep the area of the skin injury as clean as possible. You may be prescribed antibiotics to both keep you from developing an infection or treat any infection that occurs.
Legal Options for Degloving Injury Victims
How you may obtain compensation for a degloving injury depends on where and how it occurred. If you have been injured in a machinery accident on the job, you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim to receive a portion of your lost wages and reasonable medical costs to treat your injuries. However, if the machinery accident was the result of a product defect, you may be able to file a third-party lawsuit against the manufacturer and anyone who is involved in the stream of commerce. You could then receive all of your lost wages and the non-economic damages you may have suffered.
If your degloving injury occurred in a motor vehicle accident, the same rules of liability that are in play in every other personal injury claim would apply to your case as well. You would need to prove that someone else was negligent in either a claim or personal injury lawsuit.
Your compensation for a degloving injury can be significant. Not only may there be permanent scarring, but these injuries can also be extremely painful. You may never fully recover from a degloving injury, and that is factored into the amount of your compensation. Your compensation could be higher if the degloving resulted in an amputation.
Contact Our Experienced Gastonia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
There may be a number of complex legal issues involved with a degloving workers compensation claim. The experienced team at Horton & Mendez Injury Attorneys provides you with tactical and aggressive legal representation when you need an advocate in your corner.
Reach out to us to schedule a free initial consultation. Send us a message through our website or call us today at 910-405-7751 to speak with an attorney about your case. Our lawyers can help you prepare your initial claim and appeal any denial of your benefits.
