Treatment of burns in the home

In order to minimize the consequences of a burn, you need to know some rules of first aid for burn injuries even before the provision of professional medical, as well as methods of treating burns, which help to speed up healing.

Treatment of thermal burns

There are some restrictions on the treatment of thermal burns in the home. So, you can not go to the hospital if:

• the degree of thermal burn is light (1st or 2nd), without damage to the deep layers of the skin;
• The burn is about 1% of the body size - the area is approximately equal to the size of the palm;
• the localization of a burn as large as a palm - not a person, not a foot or hand;
• The burn wound is not inflamed, there are no suppuration and redness of the edges of the wound.

In all other cases it is necessary to consult a doctor to avoid the development of infection of a burn wound, poor scarring on the most mobile parts of the body.

Effective treatment of burns of 3rd and 4th degree in many respects depends on how quickly it is possible to get qualified medical care.

To act when getting a thermal burn you need instantly:

1. Ensure open access to the site of injury. If the clothes are stuck to the skin, you can not rip it off.
2. Place the baked area under a stream of cool cool water for 15 minutes. Do not ice cooling, as the skin is more sensitive to frostbite when burned.
3. If the burn is accompanied only by reddening without blistering (1st degree burn), apply a cream, gel or ointment based on panthenol.
4. A more complicated burn with the formation of a blister should be cooled, treated with a solution of hydrogen peroxide or furatsilina, apply a bandage with a sterile bandage. Do not use cotton.

Thermal burn, obtained as a result of the action of electric current, is difficult to assess, as only the point burned sections of the input and output points remain on the surface of the skin. The consequences of such trauma can become fatal, cause heart failure even after 12 hours after contact with a voltage source. Therefore, the treatment of electrical burns should be carried out only in a hospital.

Acid burn - treatment

Both thermal and chemical burns can have varying degrees of severity. In this case, the acid burn can be treated at home only if the area of ​​the injury is less than 1% of the body, and the degree of burn is the 1st or 2nd. Even after direct contact with the skin, the acid continues to act on its layers. Therefore, the treatment of acid burn occurs according to this scheme:

1. Rinse the burned area with copious amounts of water. The rinsing time is 20 minutes, if the treatment is performed some time after the burn has been received, the washing time should be doubled.
2. Elimination of further exposure to acid by neutralizing it. To do this, you can apply a solution of soda (2 tsp to a glass of water) or a solution of laundry soap.
3. Afterwards, a sterile gauze dressing (without cotton wool) should be applied to the affected area.

Burning jellyfish - treatment

Some jellyfish are very poisonous. Special capsule cells with a spirally twisted strand remain in place of the burn and continue to inject the poison even after contact with the jellyfish. They are not visible on the skin, but the pain thus increases in a wave-like manner, and the degree of burn increases. Here's how to cope with a jellyfish burn:

1. Remove the capsules with poison on the skin with the blunt side of the knife, the nail file or any other scraping object.
2. Wash the burn area with a solution of baking soda, salt or vinegar. Do not use fresh water as a rinse. Flushing should be repeated several times a day at intervals of 1.5-2 hours.
3. To reduce pain, ice can be used wrapped in a clean cloth.
4. Treat the burn site with antihistamine drugs. It is good for such a case suitable creams from insect bites.
5. If there are bubbles with transparent contents, treat the burn site carefully, without damaging the bubble shell.

Modern methods of treatment of burns

Burns of the 1 st and 2 nd degree do not present difficulties in treatment. Local treatment of mild burns in most cases is enough to heal the injury in a short time. Treatment of deep burns of 3rd and 4th degree for today is carried out by modern methods, which include:

• curing (rapid cooling) of the burn wound;
• medicamentous treatment of burns to accelerate the removal of dead tissue with the help of enzymes (collagenase, streptokinase, terillithine);
• surgical treatment of burns, providing for the renewal of blood circulation at the site of injury, as well as the transplantation of viable tissues into a deep burn wound.

Traditional medicine in the treatment of burns

Folk remedies in the treatment of burns can be used only in cases of light burns, when there are no deeper skin lesions. Popular egg masks, toothpaste, aloe juice, sour cream and curdled milk - all these tools help to reduce pain, relieve swelling and redness only in the most minor injuries. But do not get carried away with folk medicine, if the burn is serious: there is a risk of complications of the burn wound, infection and more long and difficult healing.