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When there is an injury to a variety of tissues in the body, the body has a healing response that sometimes goes somewhat awry and results in scars rather than smooth skin. Scarring is a perfectly natural response to an injury and comes in two main forms. Additionally, there are some side effects to scars that may not be obvious at the beginning.
When there is an injury to the skin, like a cut or a burn, hypertrophic and atrophic scars are the two most common versions of scarring. Hypertrophic scars are scars that have been raised by an over-production of collagen during the healing process. Extreme hypertrophic scars are called keloids. All keloids are hypertrophic scars but not all hypertrophic scars are keloids. If keloids are left unchecked, they can form benign tumors called neoplasms. Hypertrophic scars are scars that are raised above the general level of the skin.
Atrophic scars are scars that are recessed below the general level of the skin. These scars form when the tissues that supported the skin were damaged or disappeared during the injury causing a pit to form. Fat and muscle are the two most common tissues that disappear during an injury.
If a person injures a joint, he or she may have scarring occur within the joint if there is surgery to repair the injury. This scarring, in many cases, must be removed or broken in order for the individual to regain full use of the joint.
In addition to restricted range of motion due to scarring within a joint, if there is a large scar over a person's skin, that scar may have grown in too tight, also restricting movement. When this happens, surgery is frequently needed to loosen the scar tissue up, allowing the individual, particularly burn victims, to regain use of the joint.
Contact a Boston Workman's Compensation Lawyer
If you have been burned or injured in another way at work and now have significant scarring reducing your ability to work, contact a Boston workman's compensation lawyer from Pulgini & Norton at 1-888-344-2046 to discuss your situation and to learn more about the workers' compensation system.
