It has been two months since Carrie Underwood fell on the stairs in front of her home, breaking her wrist and needing 50 stitches to heal a wound on her face. A couple of weeks ago, the country star took to her blog to share an update on her accident, letting fans know that her face might look a little “different.”
However, just last month, a photo of Underwood surfaced and fans didn’t think that she looked different at all. Even still, Underwood hasn’t uploaded a selfie to social media since her accident, only sharing one pic in which her face was covered by a scarf and a couple of “throwback” photos. It seems as though Underwood is extremely self-conscious about her face, which isn’t uncommon for people who have suffered injuries like the one she did.
The Inquisitr spoke with a plastic surgeon who offered some intel on what fans might expect to see when Underwood makes her first appearance post-injury. Dr. Cangello, of Cangello Plastic Surgery in New York, obtained his medical degree at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. Although he did not treat Underwood, nor does he know what type of injury she actually sustained, he was able to give us some solid information about what might be going on.
“Without knowing anything about the injury, I can’t really say what fans would expect to see. However, if she [looked normal in that recent photo], I would suspect that any disfigurement Carrie may have been concerned about was likely due to how her face may have appeared right after the fall, when it may have been badly swollen or bruised,” Dr. Cangello said.
“When people fall, the most common types of injury to the face are either lacerations or facial fractures or both. Usually these types of injuries (a fall from standing) don’t result in any type of permanent disfigurement,” Dr. Cangello added.
He went on to say that acute bruising and swelling can make the face appear disfigured — especially in the immediate days and weeks following the accident. He adds that patients who suffer injuries to the face can “sometimes find it hard to believe that they will ever look normal” again.
The good news is that patients with facial injuries likely heal completely and any bruising and swelling does end up going away over time. Since it has been several weeks since Underwood’s accident and she’s still concerned about the way she looks, there might be something else going on.
Underwood had some type of laceration on her face, making it very possible that she will have a scar. A patient needing 50 stitches definitely suffered a large wound and that’s something that may affect Underwood’s face for the rest of her life. Is it something makeup can help with? Absolutely. But it also changes a person’s appearance — and that could be what Underwood is concerned about.