How to Treat Second- and Third-Degree Burns

All moderate to severe burns should be cared for properly to reduce the chance of infection or scarring. Burn victims should be taken to an emergency room, particularly for burns on the face, neck or genitals.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Clean And Dry Sheets
• Clean And Dry Towels
• Acetaminophen
• Antibiotic Ointment
• Sterile Dressings

1. Submerse mild to moderate burns in cool water, or apply cold compresses immediately after being burned to help relieve pain and swelling.

2. Cut off clothes that are soaked in hot oil or hot water.

3. Understand that under no circumstances should clothes that have been burned into the skin be removed except by a medical professional.

4. Remove shoes if the feet have been burned; remove all jewelery that is on a burned body part.

5. Be sure not to apply any ointments or greases to burns.

6. Cover the burned area with a clean, dry towel or sheet if the burn is severe, to protect the burn from bacteria during transport.

7. Do not put ice on a burn as this can damage the skin.

8. Allow blisters to break on their own. Do not pop or puncture them. When a blister opens on its own, dab antibiotic ointment on it and cover with a dry dressing.

9. Take acetaminophen for pain.

10. Allow the person with burns that do not require emergency treatment to take sips of cool water. If you are transporting the person to the hospital, do not give him or her anything to drink.

Tips & Warnings

• To determine the percentage of the body burned, use this rule of thumb: The size of a child's palm is considered to be 1 percent of his or her body's surface.
• If the patient has inhaled smoke from a fire or was burned by high voltage electricity, or develops fever and chills after being burned, go to the emergency room.
• Anytime an infant is burned, even if the burn looks small, go to the emergency room.
• If a burned area does not heal within six days, notify your doctor.
• This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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on 8/21/2006 Use makeup remover to gently get the oil off the skin so the damaged skin can breathe. Put bags of frozen vegetables into large bowls of cool water to soak the skin in. Sit down, take pain meds, watch something dumb on TV and distract yourself so you do not faint from the pain. Do not worry about cleaning up the kitchen or the stains on your clothes, if this even occurred to you, schedule an appointment with a therapist as soon as the burn heals! Don't hesitate to ask a neighbor for help. Americans have a latent hero gene just waiting to be exercised, and burns are very serious business.

on 8/8/2006 Burns should be treated with cold water for more than 20 minutes. Any longer will counter the top of blood flow.

on 7/30/2006 Clean the wound by pouring peroxide over it. Boil a pot of water and add 1/4 cup of salt and let cool (this is the equivalent of saline solution). Soak sterile gauze in the solution and lay it on top of the burned area with the area elevated. Change these saline soaked dressings before they dry out. This is especially good to do at night. Apply neosporin to the burned area and gently lay a sterile 4x4 dressing over the burn and tape it in place. Keep an eye on the swelling and the redness that may develop around the burned area.

A doctor would debride the dead tissue in the burn to make it heal faster with less scaring and they might use an antibiotic cream called Silvadene which is white in color. If you think the burn is infected, call your doctor as cellulitis may have occurred and the burn patient needs antibiotics, sometimes by IV in the hospital.