773-365-0040 A degloving injury can require emergency treatment, multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and months or years of rehabilitation. Even after the wound heals, the injured person may face permanent nerve damage, limited movement, scarring, disfigurement, or amputation.
When someone else’s negligence caused the degloving injury, the claim must account for the injury’s current and future costs. At Shea Law Group, we represent people who have suffered catastrophic degloving injuries in Chicago and throughout Illinois. We investigate the cause, identify every responsible party, and pursue the maximum compensation available.
Our firm has more than 75 years of combined experience and has recovered over $100 million for clients. Call us today or reach out online for a free consultation with a Chicago degloving injury lawyer. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.
What Is a Degloving Injury?
A degloving injury occurs when skin and soft tissue separate from the muscle, connective tissue, or bone beneath them. The shearing force can damage blood vessels, nerves, tendons, and other structures.
These injuries can affect the:
- Fingers and hands
- Arms and shoulders
- Feet and legs
- Knees and hips
- Face and scalp
- Torso
- Other parts of the body exposed to crushing or shearing force
Degloving injuries are generally described as open or closed.
Open Degloving Injuries
In an open degloving injury, the skin and underlying tissue are partially or completely pulled away. Muscle, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, or bone may be exposed.
Treatment may involve cleaning and removing damaged tissue, restoring blood flow, repairing nerves, using skin grafts or tissue flaps, and performing reconstructive surgery. A severe injury may require amputation when the affected tissue or limb cannot be saved.
Closed Degloving Injuries
A closed degloving injury occurs beneath skin that may initially appear intact. The skin and fatty tissue separate from the deeper fascia, damaging blood vessels and lymphatic channels.
This can create a pocket that fills with blood and lymphatic fluid. A closed degloving injury is often called a Morel-Lavallée lesion.
Because there may be no open wound, the injury can be missed during the initial examination, especially when the patient has fractures, head trauma, internal bleeding, or other urgent injuries. Signs can include swelling, bruising, fluid movement, numbness, or skin that feels unusually loose.
Delayed recognition can increase the risk of infection, skin death, persistent fluid buildup, and additional procedures.
How Shea Law Group Builds Degloving Injury Cases
Strong degloving injury claims require strong evidence of both liability and damages. Shea Law Group investigates how the accident happened while documenting the full medical and financial impact of the injury.
Depending on the case, our attorneys may:
- Inspect the accident scene
- Obtain police, incident, and workplace reports
- Secure surveillance, traffic-camera, or dashcam video
- Interview witnesses
- Preserve damaged vehicles, machinery, tools, and safety equipment
- Obtain maintenance, inspection, and repair records
- Review training materials and workplace safety procedures
- Identify every company involved in the work or equipment
- Determine which insurance policies may provide coverage
- Work with accident-reconstruction and engineering experts
- Review medical records with qualified healthcare professionals
- Document future surgeries, rehabilitation, and personal-care needs
- Calculate lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Prepare the case for trial when a fair settlement is not offered
Degloving injuries often involve several responsible parties and substantial future losses. We investigate every source of compensation rather than accepting the first explanation or insurance offer.
How To Know if You Have a Valid Degloving Injury Claim
You may have a personal injury claim if another person or company caused the accident through negligence, an unsafe condition, or a defective product.
A claim generally requires evidence that:
- The person or company owed you a duty of reasonable care.
- That duty was violated.
- The violation caused or contributed to your injury.
- You suffered financial, physical, or emotional losses.
Examples may include a driver causing a collision, a contractor creating an unsafe worksite, or a manufacturer selling dangerous machinery.
The party that caused the accident may deny responsibility or blame the injured person. Shea Law Group gathers independent evidence and identifies the legal claims supported by the facts.
Accidents That Cause Degloving Injuries
Degloving injuries usually result from significant shearing, crushing, or dragging force.
Common causes include:
- Car crashes: A limb can be crushed, trapped, or dragged during a serious car accident.
- Truck crashes: The size and force involved in commercial truck accidents can cause extensive soft-tissue damage and multiple catastrophic injuries.
- Motorcycle accidents: A rider may suffer degloving when thrown from a motorcycle, trapped under a vehicle, or dragged across the pavement. Learn more from our Chicago motorcycle accident lawyers.
- Pedestrian and bicycle collisions: A person struck and dragged by a vehicle may suffer severe injury to the legs, arms, torso, or face.
- Construction accidents: Unguarded machinery, moving equipment, caught-between incidents, and unsafe worksites can cause degloving injuries. Our Chicago construction accident attorneys investigate the companies and safety failures involved.
- Industrial and manufacturing accidents: Rollers, conveyors, presses, grinders, drills, and other machines can catch clothing or a body part and pull tissue away from the underlying structures.
- Defective equipment: Missing guards, defective shutoffs, unsafe designs, or inadequate warnings may support a product liability claim.
- Agricultural accidents: Tractors, augers, harvesting equipment, and other farm machinery can produce the crushing and pulling force associated with these injuries.
The cause of the accident determines which evidence must be preserved and who may be held responsible.
Who Can Be Held Responsible?
A degloving injury claim may involve more than one defendant.
Depending on how the accident happened, responsible parties may include:
- A negligent driver
- A driver’s employer
- A trucking or transportation company
- A construction contractor or subcontractor
- A property owner
- A company responsible for site safety
- The owner of dangerous equipment
- A maintenance or repair company
- A machinery or vehicle manufacturer
- A distributor or seller of defective equipment
- Another company whose conduct contributed to the accident
Shea Law Group examines contracts, employment relationships, ownership records, maintenance histories, and insurance coverage to determine who may be legally and financially responsible.
What If the Degloving Injury Happened at Work?
Many degloving injuries occur on construction sites, farms, and industrial or manufacturing premises. An injured employee may qualify for Illinois workers’ compensation benefits for medical treatment and part of the income lost while unable to work.
A separate personal injury claim may also be available if someone other than the employer caused the accident. Potential third parties may include:
- A general contractor
- A subcontractor
- A property owner
- An equipment manufacturer
- A maintenance company
- A delivery or transportation company
- Another company working at the site
Workers’ compensation and third-party personal injury claims have different rules and may provide different forms of recovery. Shea Law Group investigates both possibilities and coordinates the claims when appropriate.
The Long-Term Impact of a Degloving Injury
The full effect of a degloving injury may not be known when the patient leaves the hospital.
Recovery may involve:
- Emergency surgery
- Removal of dead or contaminated tissue
- Skin grafts and tissue flaps
- Reconstructive or plastic surgery
- Vascular or nerve repair
- Treatment for infection
- Additional procedures after graft failure
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Pain management
- Psychological treatment
- Prosthetics following an amputation
- Assistance with dressing, bathing, mobility, or other daily needs
Some people regain substantial function. Others live with chronic pain, loss of sensation, reduced strength, limited movement, or permanent disability.
Visible scarring can also affect confidence, relationships, work, and emotional health. Learn more about compensation for permanent scarring and disfigurement.
When a degloving injury results in the loss of a finger, hand, foot, or limb, our Chicago amputation lawyers can evaluate the additional lifetime costs and limitations.
Compensation for a Degloving Injury
The value of a claim depends on how the accident occurred, the available insurance coverage, the severity of the injury, and its long-term consequences.
Compensation may include:
- Ambulance and emergency-room expenses
- Hospitalization
- Past and future surgeries
- Skin grafts and reconstructive procedures
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Medication and pain management
- Prosthetics and medical equipment
- Home or vehicle modifications
- In-home assistance
- Lost wages
- Reduced future earning ability
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent scarring and disfigurement
- Disability
- Loss of normal life
An early settlement offer may cover current bills while leaving future surgeries, rehabilitation, and lost earning ability unpaid.
Shea Law Group works with medical, vocational, and financial professionals when necessary to determine how the injury may affect the client over a lifetime. We use that evidence to evaluate settlement offers and demand compensation for both present and future losses.
What Should You Do After a Degloving Injury?
Emergency medical care comes first. Degloving injuries can threaten tissue, limb function, and life.
Once the immediate danger has passed:
- Follow the treatment plan and attend medical appointments
- Tell your doctors about changes in pain, swelling, sensation, or movement
- Photograph the injury throughout recovery
- Keep copies of medical records and bills
- Track travel and other treatment-related expenses
- Save damaged clothing, protective equipment, or machinery components
- Record time missed from work
- Write down how the injury affects daily activities
- Do not give an insurance adjuster a recorded statement without legal advice
- Do not sign a release or accept a settlement before the long-term prognosis is understood
- Contact a degloving lawyer in Chicago promptly so evidence can be preserved
You do not need to finish treatment before speaking with an attorney. Early investigation can protect evidence while your medical team continues to evaluate the injury.
Why Work With Shea Law Group After a Degloving Injury?
A degloving case requires detailed preparation. The legal team must prove how the accident happened and present the injury’s complete lifetime cost.
Clients choose Shea Law Group because we offer:
- More than 75 years of combined experience
- Over $100 million recovered through verdicts and settlements
- Investigation of catastrophic injury cases
- Access to medical and other qualified experts
- Experience dealing with insurance companies and defense lawyers
- Preparation for trial when a fair settlement is not offered
- Direct and respectful communication
- Service in English, Spanish, and Polish
- Free consultations
- No attorney fees unless we recover compensation
Review examples of our case results and contact us when you are ready to discuss what happened.
