4 ways severe burn injuries continue to affect you

The negligence of a car driver has left you with life-changing injuries — second- and third-degree burns over much of your body. The immediate challenges include surviving a series of surgeries and persevering during therapy.

But severe victims can expect many more challenges that will continue to affect them for the rest of their lives.

Future medical complications

These challenges may include:

• Coping with several future medical issues: Medical studies have shown that burn injuries may increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, infections, cardiovascular disease, disorders of the nervous system, musculoskeletal ailments, depression and anxiety.
• Challenges related to your career: With certain physical limitations, you may be forced to seek another occupation. If your job included a great amount of physical work, you may not be able to perform these duties due to the pain.
• Limitations on your everyday and personal activities: You may need help dressing and feeding yourself. Your injuries also may cause great pain for you to hug your children. Driving a car or a bicycle and even sleeping may prove difficult.
• Ongoing physical and mental health struggles: Lingering pain may be in store for burn victims. Therapy and painkillers can help to a point. But even the slightest turn of your body may cause pain, so can an unexpected reminder of the accident that led to these struggles. Post-traumatic stress disorder is possible.

The challenges will mount stemming from a severe burn injury. Perseverance is crucial to help you overcome this situation as best as possible.

Controlling your recovery

Understand that you cannot control what happened to you. However, you can control the direction you take in your recovery.