Our Personal Injury Lawyers Explain the 5 Types of Laceration Injuries

Were you injured in an accident and suffered lacerations? For legal advice, call a personal injury attorney at the Banafshe Law Firm, P.C.

What Is a Laceration?

A laceration occurs when an injury causes an uneven break in the skin. It is similar to a cut, but the edges around the wound appear torn and jagged.

What Causes Lacerations?

Lacerations are caused by objects that hit the skin and force a wound to open. Some lacerations can be more severe than others, depending on a number of characteristics of the object and how it hit the skin (angle, force, and depth of object). These more severe lacerations can reach as far as the deep tissue layer and cause serious bleeding.

Lacerations Are Grouped Into the Following Five General Categories:

1.  Cut laceration: This is the most common type of laceration. A cut occurs when any type of blade (scissors, knife, axe, etc.) creates a break in the skin and possibly creates a break in the underlying tissue.
2. Split laceration: This laceration occurs when part of the body is pressed between two objects. While not as severe as a crush laceration, a split laceration occurs in the same manner, with a striking object causing a blunt impact, resulting in the skin and tissues tearing from the force of the compression. Split lacerations usually appear on the head, face, hands, and legs.
3. Tearing: This kind of laceration occurs when an object breaks the skin and the broken skin is ripped because of pressure. The pressure pushes the wound in opposite directions and causes the skin to tear like a sheet of paper.
4. Grinding compression: This laceration occurs when an object hits the skin with a blunt impact in either a sweeping motion or at an angle. Similar to how a person peels a potato, a person’s skin is basically peeled back. As the object hits the skin, the underlying tissue is crushed, causing the first layer of skin to peel away.
5. Over-stretching: This laceration is caused by a single, angular force hitting the skin and either pulling or pushing the skin. This force causes the skin to stretch and break. One example of this type of laceration injury would be a gunshot. As the shotgun pellets pierce the skin at an angle and continue to travel below, they will lodge underneath the skin. This will cause expansion and compression that will rip the skin beyond the first point of impact of the pellets.

Contact Us to Learn How a Los Angeles Accident Lawyer Can Help You Recover Compensation

Were you injured in an accident and suffered lacerations? Do you need legal advice about liability for your injury and how to preserve your legal rights? If so, you should contact a personal injury attorney at the Banafshe Law Firm, P.C.