Health Library

Facial trauma

Maxillofacial injury; Midface trauma; Facial injury; LeFort injuries

Facial trauma is an injury of the face. It may include the facial bones such as the upper jaw bone (maxilla).

I Would Like to Learn About:

Causes

Facial injuries can affect the upper jaw, lower jaw, cheek, nose, eye socket, or forehead. They may be caused by blunt force or be the result of a wound.

Common causes of injury to the face include:

• Car and motorcycle crashes
• Wounds
• Sports injuries
• Violence
• Falls
• Occupational injuries

Symptoms

Symptoms may include:

• Changes in feeling of the face
• Deformed or uneven face or facial bones
• Difficulty breathing through the nose due to swelling and bleeding
• Double vision
• Missing teeth
• Swelling or bruising around the eyes that may cause vision problems

Exams and Tests

The health care provider will perform a physical exam, which may show:

• Bleeding from the nose, eyes, or mouth
• Nasal blockage
• Breaks in the skin (lacerations)
• Bruising around the eyes or widening of the distance between the eyes, which may mean injury to the bones between the eye sockets
• Changes in vision or the movement of the eyes
• Improperly aligned upper and lower teeth

The following may suggest bone fractures:

• Abnormal feelings on the cheek
• Irregularities of the face that can be felt by touching
• Movement of the upper jaw when the head is still

X-ray or CT scan of the head and bones of the face may be performed.

Treatment

Surgery is done if the injury prevents normal functioning or causes a major deformity.

The goal of treatment is to:

• Assure or create a clear airway
• Control bleeding
• Treat the fracture and fix broken bone segments
• Prevent scars, if possible
• Prevent long-term double vision or sunken eyes or cheek bones
• Rule out other injuries

Treatment should be done as soon as possible if the person is stable and does not have a neck fracture.

Outlook (Prognosis)

Most people without airway blockage do very well with proper treatment. More surgery may be needed in 6 to 12 months to correct changes in appearance.

Possible Complications

Complications may include:

• Blocked airway (in severe cases)
• Bleeding
• Uneven face
• Infection
• Brain and nervous system problems
• Numbness or weakness
• Loss of vision or double vision

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Go to the emergency room or call 911 or the local emergency number if you have a severe injury to your face.

Prevention

Wear seat belts while driving.

Use protective head gear when doing work or activities that could injure the face.

References

Kellman RM. Maxillofacial trauma. In: Flint PW, Francis HW, Haughey BH, et al, eds. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 20.

Mayersak RJ. Facial trauma. In: Walls RM, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 34.

Nam AJ, Davidson EH, Manson PN. Assessment of the patient with traumatic facial injury. In: Dorafshar AH, Rodriguez ED, Manson PN, eds. Facial Trauma Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 1.1.

Neligan PC, Buck DW. Facial injuries. In: Neligan PC, Buck DW, eds. Core Procedures in Plastic Surgery. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 9.

Review Date: 7/1/2025  

Reviewed By: Jesse Borke, MD, CPE, FAAEM, FACEP, Attending Physician at Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, for Health Content Provider (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

© 1997- 2026 A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.