When you’re out camping and cook your own meals, use oil lanterns, make camp fires or just carry hot coffee with you the chance of burning your skin is always there. Sometimes it’s just clumsy handling of hot pots and camp stoves in other situations it’s plain stupid pouring of high flammable liquids (alcohol, acetone, petrol/ gasoline etc.) strait from a bottle into a camp fire or wood stove. This article is about first aid that you can do yourself or will be done by health professionals. It is suitable for the lighter wounds often caused in household situations. More severe wounds will require hospitalization and plastic surgery.
Therefore it is a good practice to have a First aid kit with the following contents with you:
– Water or hydro gel. – Paraffin gauze dressings. – Absorbent cotton wool dressings. – Plasters on a roll. – Normal bandage or tubular elastic bandage.
First thing everyone will instantly do is to seek relive by cooling the burned skin. This can be done by applying water. Preferably keep the affected placed under running water for a long time. If no water available cooling can be achieved by applying hydro-gel packages or gel spray. Secondly you need to cover the wound. The protective properties of the affected skin have been lost. Most likely the fat and oils inside your skin that normally protects you against moisture and oxygen are gone. Result is that the wound gets painfully irritated by reactions with oxygen from the air. Also nerve endings will become exposed and start to overreact. By covering the wound with fatty substances you’ll recreating a protective barrier again. Best way to do this is with Paraffin gauze dressings. As soon as these are applied the pain and irritation will disappear. Another reason why this is preferred over creamy substances like Vaseline or Aloë vera containing gel is that the gausses can be removed easily and won’t be a obstacle for further wound examination by a medical professional. As a alternative it is also possible to cover the burning wounds with plastic. The paraffin gausses are also sticky on the outside. To prevent dirt and debris from sticking to it you can cover the gausses with absorbent cotton wool dressings. These will also help to absorb liquid that will escape from blisters. In order to make sure that these dressings will stay in place you’ll need to tape them to the undamaged skin with plasters. Don’t use duct tape or stuff like that since it will irritate your skin. Plasters on a roll are easiest to use and provide the most stickiness. The whole package of dressings can be further locked in place by applying normal bandages or tubular elastic bandages. Tubular elastic bandages are available in the form of netting and in the form of tighter woven fabric without a seam. The last one is usually more comfortable to wear 24/7. A popular brand is Tubifast from Molnlycke. It is available in different sizes for matching with the body parts and size of the person. For coverage of the body it is possible to cut out a makeshift T-shirt out of a tubular bandage. Just cut 3 holes in the form of a half moon out of it and it can be used as a T-shirt.
Additional treatment for example prevention of inflammation by applying sulfadiazine cream can be done by health professionals. In essence a burning wound is sterile and bandaged are also sterile packed so inflammation isn’t very likely. Often a doctor will choose to only use this during the first days when the wound is still relatively open. Blisters will often occur in the first days after injury. These will usually break and release fluids. Therefore it is required to change bandages.
The following clip was taken from a longer YouTube movie on YouTube channel Chloe Ting about a young woman showing how she dealt with a burning wound after a hot kettle with water felt over her leg. She also used the same method + anti inflammatory cream.
- 1) Anti inflammatory cream: Silver sulfadiazine 1% (only after consulting a doctor)
- 2) Paraffin gauze dressing: Jelonet 10 cm x 10 cm
- 3) Cotton absorbent dressing: Leukomed Low Adherent Dressing 10cmx10cm
- 4) Plasters to hold the bandages in place: Primafix Plus
- 5 Elastic bandage to cover everything: Elastic crepe bandage.
Long term effects.
Household accidents with boiling water, hot cooking pans, barbecues ignited with gasoline, camp fires erupting in flames after pouring petrol on it etc. will usually lead to 2nd degree burning wounds. The exposure to the heat source is very short and especially in kitchens cool running water is nearby. The damage might look frightening at first glance and in the first days but as can be seen in these YouTube clips complete healing can occur in 2 to 3 months. Sensitivity of the healed skin for direct sunlight will last usually longer than 6 months.
More info:
First aid and treatment of minor burns National Libary of Medicine
Why is Paraffin Gauze Dressing a Game-Changer in Wound Care? www.linkedin.com/RongHu
Tubifast Tubular Bandage. www.solmed.com.au