What is a
disfigurement

A 'disfigurement' is the generic term for the aesthetic effect or visual impact of a scar, burn, mark, asymmetric or unusually shaped feature or texture of the skin on the face, hands or body.

Disfigurements can be caused by a condition which someone is born with or develops in childhood or adulthood. They can also be caused by accidents, dog bites, acts of violence or illnesses such as cancer.

Why do we use the word ‘disfigurement’

The word "disfigurement" is used as a semi-neutral word to describe the aesthetic effects of a mark, scar asymmetry or paralysis to the face or body. Changing Faces uses the word as a noun (eg: "a child who has a disfigurement" but avoids its use as an adjective (ie: we don’t say "a disfigured child" we say a "child with/who has a disfigurement; we don’t say"a disfigured face" instead, we say"a facial disfigurement.")

We recognise that the word ‘disfigurement’ is not particularly positive and some people, particularly parents and young people, may not want to use it to describe their own or their child’s condition or appearance, preferring other words like "visible difference", "unusual appearance" or the name of the condition.

Changing Faces encourages the real cause of a person's disfigurement to be spelled out (eg: "a person with/who has a Bell's Palsy, cleft lip, burn injuries, cancer, acne etc") because this is an an informative way of describing the person’s medical condition.

The charity continues to use the word ‘disfigurement’ as it is a succinct, generic term widely understood by the general public. It is also enshrined in British law in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 which protects people who have disfigurements.