Dangers of Road Rash
Whether you’ve been a motorcyclist for some time, you’re new to the “biking” club, or you’re familiar with the passion that often goes into riding these two-wheeled motor vehicles, chances are you’ve heard of one thing that brings you to pause: road rash. Cases of road rash are one of the most common motorcycle accident personal injury claims out there, and for a good reason. But though most motorcyclists fear road rash, you may not fully understand what it is or why it can be such a big deal. To help you determine what you’re up against, let’s take a closer look at road rash and the dangers it poses.
Types of Road Rash
Like burns, road rash is classified in degrees. First degree typically only involves the outer layer of skin, whereas second degree impacts deeper layers of skin. Both first and second-degree road rash can usually be nursed back to health at home after receiving a thorough medical examination and determining a care plan with your physician. Third-degree road rash, however, is the most severe category and typically involves the scraping away of layers of skin and fatty layers below to expose muscle and bone beneath. No degree of road rash is fun or comfortable to have, and all cases of road rash should be attended to by a medical professional, but third-degree road rash runs the highest risk of complications or secondary, potentially fatal illnesses that stem from the damage caused by road rash.
Road Rash Complications
Any injury that breaks the barrier of the skin leaves room for secondary infections, but second and third-degree road rashes are particularly notorious for added complications. Because road rash often occurs on busy paved roads, like highways, there is a lot of dirt, debris, glass and metal fragments, and more to contend with outside of the wound itself. Issues like tetanus, staph infection, even necrotizing fasciitis are potential complications stemming from road rash. If you’ve recently suffered from road rash, and the pain continues to increase after the first day following the injury, swelling, and redness increase, you experience warmth around the wound, see or smell pus or drainage, you should seek medical attention immediately.
Understanding Your Options
It’s not just complications that make road rash such a terrible personal injury to experience. Many who suffer road rash may face scarring and potential disfigurement—scarring on joints that can affect your mobility in a wide range of ways, or permanent nerve, muscle, or tissue damage. Bacterial infections can also leave you nursing a chronic wound that takes an extremely long time to heal, or keeps reopening no matter how seriously you take your care instructions. Though the road to recovery looks different for every person recovering from a road rash or secondary complications, there’s no denying that dealing with this injury can change your life in major ways.
If you’ve recently been in an accident and are facing aftermath involving road rash, complications, and more, it’s completely normal to wonder what your options are. That’s where we come in. Give us a call to discuss your case today so we can focus on getting you the compensation you deserve, the compensation you need to get your life back on track and find your way toward a new normal that doesn’t include loss of quality of life. Call 303.372.6145 for your free consultation today, or sign up online.
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