Nerve Damage From a Burn Injury

Contact with the skin and a source of excessive heat, electricity, acidic or base solutions, or radiation can cause burn injuries. A burn can impact the outermost layer of skin down to the deep muscle tissues and bones. It can damage and destroy nerves along the way, sending pain signals to your brain. Severe burns can cause irrevocable nerve damage, leading to chronic conditions and permanent disabilities.

Burns come in four degrees. The first two degrees are minor to moderate, although a second-degree burn can lead to an open wound and pose a risk of infection. A third-degree burn is severe, usually due to prolonged exposure. A third-degree burn affects the outer layer of skin (the epidermis), the second layer of skin (the dermis) and the layer of fat beneath the dermis. Third-degree burns can appear white or tan and cause the skin to be stiff to the touch. A victim might not feel a third-degree burn due to the destruction of nerves in the area.

A fourth-degree burn is the most severe. It impacts every layer of the skin and fat and reaches into the deep tissues, muscles, tendons and bones. A fourth-degree burn may look black or charred. As in a third-degree burn, a victim might not feel a fourth-degree burn due to nerve ending destruction. Third- and fourth-degree burns require emergency medical attention and can have long-lasting ramifications on a survivor. They often cause permanent scarring, disfigurement and disabilities.

If a first- or second-degree burn partially damages or disrupts the nerves, you may experience pain followed by tingling, numbness and weakness. Your burned skin will also be sensitive to the touch. In general, however, nerve damage from a minor burn will heal over time. Major burns, on the other hand, can cause permanent nerve damage. A third- or fourth-degree burn can be powerful enough to destroy or seriously damage nerve endings. If you do not feel pain or sensitivity in the area burned, it is a sign that you could have serious and irreversible nerve damage.

Severe nerve damage can lead to neuropathic pain, a common symptom associated with a major burn injury. Neuropathic pain comes from damaged or dysfunctional nerve fibers sending incorrect signals to pain centers elsewhere in the body, causing a shooting and burning pain that many patients describe as electric. Neuropathic pain happens when the nerves are starting to regenerate and repair themselves around a burn injury. Neuropathic pain may go away on its own, but many burn survivors feel it permanently. Chronic neuropathic pain can be either severe and unrelenting or come and go.

If a burn injury permanently damages nerve endings, the nerves may malfunction and cause chronic pain even in areas that are not near the burn. Chronic pain can be physically and emotionally debilitating. Permanent nerve damage can also cause symptoms such as long-term numbness or tingling and the inability to fully use parts of the body. Living with chronic nerve damage from a burn injury could interfere with your job and cause lost wages. You may also have to spend thousands of dollars on medical treatments or drugs to help with pain management. Permanent nerve damage can also impact your quality of life, taking a toll on you mentally and emotionally.

Although nothing can restore you to your pre-burn physical state, a burn injury lawsuit against the person or entity responsible for causing your burn could help you and your family financially. If you have permanent nerve damage or chronic pain from a major burn injury, you could be eligible for compensation that covers a lifetime of medical treatments, losses of income and reduced quality of life. Contact a Houston burn injury lawyer for advice about your legal options.

The post Nerve Damage From a Burn Injury appeared first on GES Injury Attorneys.