What would be the effects of this type of facial damage or is this even possible?

The Second Moon

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In my WIP, my MC gets hit by a cement truck and lands on face first on the road. I would like it if he came out of this accident with this type of irreversible damage: Indented face or indented forehead, scars, and no brain damage.

After some research I would like to know:

a) if my image of what my post-accident MC will look like is plausible or if it is too cartoon-ish

b) if a indented forehead would be more plausible or if an indented face would be

c) what would be some effects of a indented forehead

d) what would be some effects of an indented face

e) How long would he be in the hospital



Thanks in advance!
 
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KBooks

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I am not a doctor so others will have to chime in. But just guessing, a collision with a cement truck then landing face first on the road seems really likely to cause a TBI. Landing hard enough to cause an indented face/forehead (fractured facial bones or skull bones) would seem really really likely to cause a TBI.
 

Stytch

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There was a guy whose mugshot made the rounds in NC recently, he'd clearly had some sort of traumatic brain thing, and there was, like, half his head gone, so the round shape of his head looked like someone had taken a huge chunk out. It was kinda freaky, I don't think I'd ever seen anything quite like it before. It wasn't on his face, though, it was, like, the 9-12 part of his head, if you were looking at it like a clock. Does that make sense? Oh, wait, I found a pic. Check this out. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/tr...-to-make-fun-of-mug-of-man-with-deformed-head
 

anaemic_mind

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Someone I knew had an operation many years ago that required part of her skull to be removed and placed back again. Afterwards, as it settled again, her forehead developed a sizeable dent in that area. Not cartoonish at all :). I'm not sure of the effects the dent had on her I'm afraid. She was a stoic sort and never grumbled much. She did change her hair style to a side parting that covered that side. Although part of that might have been to hide the hair from the section they'd shaved, that grew back grey.

I imagine a severe skull fracture repair could end up with a similar deformity.
 

MaeZe

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There's not enough room in your skull for you to get a severe 'dent' without brain damage.

However, one might recover quite well in some cases and still have the dent.

You might get a lot more information from some brain injury organizations. It's a pretty complicated topic to get much information in a forum. It would generally take months to recover from a serious brain injury.

Scroll down for a wealth of links to organizations and information on significant brain injuries.
Patient Organizations

Brain Injury Association of America, Inc.

Brain Injury Resource Center

Brain Trauma Foundation

Child Neurology Foundation

Family Caregiver Alliance/National Center on Caregiving
See all related organizations
 
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talktidy

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I realise it depends on velocity and other factors, but I can't help thinking being hit by a cement truck would be a terminal experience.
 

Layla Nahar

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There was a rodeo rider (the bucking bronco) who got his face entirely smashed in by colliding his face with the bulls skull. I think he didn't suffer brain damage, but he had tons and tons of reconstructive surgery. He actually tried to ride again, entered in a competition and all and at the very last minute, he backed out. The audience gave him a massive cheer.
 

Old Hack

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Note that cement is a component in concrete, so strictly speaking it's a concrete mixer or concrete truck, not a cement mixer or truck. Why, yes, I AM pedantic.
 

BlackKnight1974

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My Great-Uncle had a motorcycle accident as a young and collided with a telegraph pole. He suffered a fractured skull and spent a long time in hospital (this would have been 60+ years ago). He refused to let them insert a metal plate in his head and as a result, had a noticeable dent in his forehead.

I didn't know him before the accident (as I wasn't born), however my father says that it did change him and reduce mental ability - he did always come across as a little punch drunk. In later life he developed Parkinson's disease - the only member of my family to do so as far as I am aware.
 

Paul Lamb

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There are accounts of soldiers who have lost half of their brain (one hemisphere) and the shape of their head shows this. I think these poor soldiers have lifelong problems with thought processes, impulse control, and such, but they are alive.

Is the "dent" important to your plot? Might a growth work as well? A swelling or a bone deformity that results from the accident and looks like a horn? (I think Flannery O'Connor did this in one of her short stories.)