Face looks misshapen or swollen after an injury

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Face looks misshapen or swollen after an injury

It is normal to have some swelling when you have had an injury. Home treatment can often help reduce swelling.

Sometimes swelling will make your face look misshapen. If the misshapen appearance is caused by swelling only, your appearance will return to normal as the swelling goes down. Home treatment measures can help reduce swelling.

A cheek or jaw that looks misshapen after a facial injury may mean you have:

• A fracture, such as a broken jaw, broken cheekbone, or other broken facial bone.
• A dislocated jaw. This can occur when the lower jawbone (mandible) is pulled apart from one or both of the joints connecting it to the base of the skull at the temporomandibular (TM) joints.

Swelling is more serious when:

• A lot of swelling or bruising develops rapidly, within 30 minutes of an injury. This is more likely to mean a severe bruise, a broken bone (fracture), or a torn muscle.
• Swelling continues and does not improve with home treatment.
• Swelling and pain increase and occur with redness, red streaking, warmth, fever, or drainage that looks like pus. This can mean an infection has developed at or near the site of the injury or in the salivary glands.

If your face looks misshapen or if you have facial swelling that does not improve with home treatment, call your health professional for an evaluation. Prompt medical treatment can help prevent complications.

Credits

Last updated:	May 15, 2007
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer