‘What happened to your face?’ Managing facial disfigurement

The emphasis that society places on physical appearance is an increasing challenge for those who have a facial disfigurement. Problems arise principally in the area of social interaction, with intrusions such as staring and comments commonplace. The resulting social anxiety and poor self esteem can often lead to outright avoidance of social situations. Medical and surgical solutions have their limits, and intervention is increasingly focusing on the behaviour of the individual and the development of the coping skills necessary to manage social situations. This paper briefly introduces some of these coping strategies and argues that nurses can be instrumental in raising awareness of the impact of facial disfigurement and the ways in which it can be managed.