Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
According to a recent article from the National Law Review, there are various new techniques to treat serious burn injuries. This is very good news as burn injuries are among the most painful type of personal injury a victim can suffer. Further, they can also result in death due to secondary infections.
The reason there is such a high risk of secondary infections is because your skin is the best way to prevent infection, as it serves a barrier to harmful microbes. After a serious burn injury, there is no skin to protect the body from this harmful bacteria. In addition to the risk of serious infections, there is a lot of pain and suffering associated with burn injuries because of the nerve damage which often occurs when the skin is destroyed.
It should also be noted, there are different degrees of burns, as most people are aware, but many are not aware that there is also what is known as fourth-degree burn. A first-degree burn is the least serious and is typically the result of a sunburn, for example. A second-degree burn involves redness and blistering, and a third-degree burn involves the destruction of all layers of skin and some of the muscle tissue under the skin. A fourth-degree burn is by far the worst type of burn injury and is often deadly. A fourth-degree burn involves the destruction of all layers of skin, all tissue under the skin, and burn damage to the bone itself.
This article deals with thermal burns. While most people only think of thermal burns, our Boston personal injury attorneys have also seen injuries caused by chemical burns, electrical burns, and even cold burns.
One of the new advances used to treat thermal burns in the use of a skin substitute that will serve as a protection and also a structure upon which a patient can regrow new skin if that is possible. There is also the possibility of live skin graft or partial skin graft, but that skin must come from the patient, which is not always possible or ideal. While there are lists for other transplant organs, skin is hard to come by, as supplies are very limited.
There is also a newer product know as a skin analog that is different from substitute skin. While these technologies are helping burn victims today, many are hoping that cell-based products will be the treatment of the future. This will allow scientists to regrow the patient’s own skin and apply it to the body. In one recent advancement, researchers were actually able to regrow skin complete with working hair follicles and sweat gland from cells. While much of this research is being done using laboratory animals, including mice, in Japan, there is good deal of hope that these developments will be ready for human trials in the not too distant future. One off the challenges is not just to replace the skin, but for the new skin to be flexible and functional as it was before the serious burn accident.
If you have suffered personal injury in Massachusetts, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Advances in Technology for Burn Injury Survivors, April 13, 2016, National Law Review, By David M. Schmid
More Blog Entries:
Snaras v. Richard Lundgren, Inc.: Wrongful Death in Massachusetts, April 7, 2016, Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Blog