Burns

Forgot your password?

Benefits of Registration

Become a member

Quick Registration

Full Registration Benefits -

Free Homepages for Doctors

Free Homepages for Hospitals

Free Homepages for Medical Conference

Free Homepages for NGO's

Personal Health Record Creation

Access to all Medical Slides

Access to all Jobs & Products Sale

Explore Medindia

Medindia » First Aid » First Aid-Burns

Burns - First Aid and Emergency Treatment Guide

Comments (11)

Font Size

     What are Burns?
   Categories of burns
   First-degree burns
   Treatment
   Second-degree burns
    Treatment
   Third-degree burns
   Treatment
   Prevention

What are burns?

Injuries due to heat/ chemicals/ electricity/ radiation
Common heat injuries due to fire, hot liquids, steam
Burns due to heat / chemicals - through skin contact
Severe burns affect muscles, fat and bones
Older people/ children - particularly vulnerable

Categories of burns

First, second and third degree
Categorization depends on severity of tissue damage
Check extent of burn before deciding self treatment
Seek help if burn is over a couple of inches in diameter, or
If it involves large sections of the hands, feet, face, groin or buttocks, or a major joint

First-degree burns

Injuries are superficial / mild
Swelling& redness of the injured area
Pain develops
No blisters seen
Burned area becomes white on touch
Takes 3-6 days to heal

Treatment

Remove patient from heat source
Remove the burnt clothing
Run cool water over burnt area
Gently clean the injured area
Gently dry
Apply anti biotic such as Silver Sulphadiazine
Use a sterile bandage to cover burns
Take tetanus vaccination, if required

Second-degree burns

Burns extends to middle skin layer, dermis
Swelling, redness and pain observed
Burnt area may turn white on touch
Blisters develop, that ooze a clear fluid
Scars may develop
Restricts movement, if injury occurs at joint
Dehydration may occur
Healing time varies, depends on extent of injury

Treatment

Clean the affected area thoroughly
Gently dry
Apply antibiotic cream over affected area
Make the patient lie down
Keep burnt body part at a raised level
Skin graft may be required
Physical therapy may be essential to aid mobility
Splints may be used to rest affected joints
Hospitalization is essential

Third-degree burns

Damage occurs to all 3 skin layers
Destroys adjacent hair follicles, sweat glands, nerve endings
Lack of pain due to destroyed nerves
Injured area does not turn white on touch
No blisters observed
Swelling occurs
Skin develops leathery texture
Discoloration of skin observed
Scars develop
Crusty surfaces (Eschars) develop-impairs circulation
Dehydration occurs resulting in shock
Symptoms may worsen with time
Disfigurement may result
Healing depends on extent of injury
90% body surface injury results in death
60% injury in elderly, fatal

Treatment

Requires immediate hospital care
Dehydration treated through intravenous fluid supply
Oxygen is administered
Eschars are surgically opened
Periodically run clean cool water over burns
Nutritious diet helps to heal quickly
Regular monitoring essential
Mental Depression treated by anti-depressants

Prevention

Install smoke alarm in your home
Employ 'children friendly' safety measures at home
Avoid synthetic clothing while cooking
Carry out fire drills at home and work place

Share it!

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY(ICE)-Life Saving Measures

Comment & Contribute

Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.

* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

I agree to the terms and conditions

If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.


Posted by: ViratKohli_rules, India Posted on: 11/27/2012 what are 4th degree burns
Posted by: jaisonJames, India Posted on: 11/19/2012 if it is good for useing cooling water for 2nd deg burns......?
Posted by: swati72, India Posted on: 5/16/2012 This is written very nicely and easy to understand to younger children or elder ones..Nicely written...I am impressed
Posted by: Bobby62, United States Posted on: 4/21/2012 can you apply cool water to second degree burn in immediate care before treatment
Posted by: jeril, United Arab Emirates Posted on: 4/18/2012 `thanks for information
View All Comments (11)