Treatment of burn wounds at home: what helps, what to anoint, first aid

When can you treat burns at home?

Treatment of burn wounds at home is only possible if the injury meets several criteria:

the burn is of the first or second degree of severity;
the necessary sterile preparations and medicines are at hand;
the affected area is not on the face, hand, foot or genitals;
the burn area does not exceed the size of the palm;
the patient does not experience any disturbances in the general condition of the body (headaches, fever, nausea).

If the burn wound meets the criteria of the 3rd or 4th degree of severity, or a child is injured, it is necessary to consult a traumatologist. Even if an adult has been injured, the help of a specialist will not be superfluous - in a medical institution you can get advice on treating wounds at home.

At home, only first and second degree burns can be treated, and more severe injuries must be shown to a medical specialist, as complications are possible.

Description

A person faces various types of trauma throughout his life, starting from childhood. Before treating a lesion, you need to know everything about this type of injury. The damage is a violation of tissue trophism, which can be localized in various parts of the body. Weeping damage can cover different areas and depths of penetration. In this case, various structures from the dermis and blood vessels to bones and internal organs can be affected. Non-healing weeping lesions occur when the skin humidity is high. The mechanism of occurrence of such burns is similar to the way of formation of ordinary injuries.

There are several phases in it:

inflammatory process;
regeneration;
scarring.

Restoration and healing of weeping type wounds should be carried out according to the scheme. It is necessary to constantly bandage the open wound, use restorative and disinfecting medications.

First aid at home

First of all, the victim must be removed from the fire : put out the flame, remove burnt or scalded clothing, trying to injure the affected area of the body as little as possible. The burn must be kept under running cold water for 10-20 minutes to reduce the temperature of the damaged surface and prevent the damaging factor from spreading.

Note. In order to somehow “calm down” a burn from chemicals at home, the injury is washed with a solution of soda (if affected by acid) or citric acid (if exposed to alkali).

The victim needs to restore water balance. When treating burns at home, it is allowed to give the patient drinks such as:

tea;
coffee;
alkaline mineral water;
dehydration solution (add 1 teaspoon of soda and 1 teaspoon of salt per liter of water).

As a painkiller, it is recommended to take Analgin, Aspirin or drugs containing diphenhydramine.

How long does it take to heal at different degrees?

Burn damage is measured in 4 degrees.

Only the epidermal layer is damaged. Looks like an abrasion. Regeneration takes place easily within five days.
The damage has reached the dermis. Plasma-filled bubbles appear. Over time they pass. If regeneration is impaired, the burn may periodically become wet. Healing takes up to two weeks, leaving a scar.
Damage to all layers of the skin, with disruption of microcirculation. Due to the depth and extent, the burn does not heal for months and leaves cosmetic defects. It is a source of sepsis and purulent formations. Sometimes skin grafts are required.
All tissues in the affected area are destroyed, right down to the bones. At this degree, there is no longer a question of how long does it take for a burn to heal? If the victim survives, full recovery may take years. The affected limbs are amputated. The Internet is filled with photos of burnt arms and legs of people who fell asleep drunk by the fire.

How to treat a burn: medicines and folk remedies

When choosing medications at home that help with burns, it is necessary to exclude fatty ointments and other products containing fat - they do not allow the wound to “breathe”.

Important. For bandages applied to the injured area, fabric-based products are used. Under no circumstances should you use cotton wool!

Before smearing a burn wound at home, you need to make sure you have a sterile bandage or gauze - an unprotected wound can easily get infected

You can use medications from your home medicine cabinet such as:

ointment "Mefenat";
gel "Actovegin";
aerosol "Panthenol";
"Levomekol";
"Levosin".

On a note. For burns at home, preparations containing silver are often used - Dermazin or Argosulfan. They have strong anti-infective properties. The edges of the wound can be treated with a solution of brilliant green to prevent infection.

In folk medicine, there are quite a few remedies for burns that can be used at home. So, when providing first aid, the affected area can be lubricated with toothpaste - it has pain-relieving properties and prevents the appearance of blisters .

When treating, you can use vegetables and fruits on hand. One of the most common means for compresses is grated raw potatoes, which are wrapped in gauze and applied to the affected area.

When treating burns, it is strictly forbidden to open blisters - this can lead to wound contamination and the development of infections.

Kinds

With a thermal burn, the skin becomes red, blood circulation in the damaged area is disrupted, and swelling occurs. Protective cells, leukocytes, are activated and accumulate in the tissues of the burned area.

Treatment of burns depends on their severity.

3 degrees:

First;
Second;
Third (A and B).

The easiest

In the first degree, the blow is applied to the top layer of skin, the damaged area turns red. The burn is accompanied by prolonged pain due to damage to the nerve endings. This stage is easy - the chance of complications is low.

Moderate

The second degree is characterized by the formation of blisters on the skin filled with serous fluid. The risk of inflammation – infection – increases significantly.

Heavy

In the third degree A, all layers of the skin are damaged.

The type of damage is dangerous due to toxemia - poisoning with one’s own protein (destroyed protein, subject to necrotization, enters the bloodstream).

Treatment of this degree is carried out in a hospital.

B-grade is the most severe, accompanied by destruction of the skin layers, underlying muscles, fascia, and bone tissue. Requires hospitalization.

What foods will help with a burn?

The following products are also used in treatment:

cabbage (a cold leaf of the vegetable is applied to the burn and held until it warms up, after which it is changed or kept in cold water until it cools);
pumpkin, carrots (raw products are grated and applied to burned areas);
the burn site can be sprinkled with ground dry pomegranate peel, after which the wound becomes covered with a crust and healing begins;
the affected area is sometimes covered with a mixture of egg white and sauerkraut or cabbage itself;
juice from fresh dill is diluted with chilled water in a ratio of one to two, and lotions are made.

For better recovery, you need to eat certain foods that promote skin regeneration - lean beef, figs, onions, garlic, radishes, cabbage, almonds.

Cabbage leaf can be used immediately after a burn - it cools the skin and soothes it.

Note. During the recovery process, it is necessary to carefully monitor the patient's health. At the slightest suspicion of its deterioration, you should contact a medical facility.

Prevention measures

Burns with blisters are a common condition that many people experience. You can reduce the risk of injury with proper prevention:

When working with flammable substances and household chemicals, you should strictly adhere to the rules written in the instructions for the products. Keep hazardous substances in a specially designated place, away from food. When coming into contact with aggressive compounds, be sure to wear gloves, protect your eyes with goggles, and your mouth with a gauze bandage. When preparing food, be careful not to grab a hot pan or stove with your hands. Keep small children away from the operating stove. Avoid exposure to steam. When visiting the beach, protect your body from sunburn with cream.

If it was not possible to prevent skin injury, do not panic. First aid is urgently needed. The speed of subsequent recovery and the absence of scars after wound healing depends on its quality.

How to cure a burn with medicinal plants

Traditional medicine has many means to eliminate the consequences of burn wounds.

Peeled and grated to a pulp, an aloe leaf is applied directly to the site of injury. The treated wound is wrapped in gauze.
A decoction is prepared from two parts of oak bark and ten parts of water. The cooled product is used to prepare compresses, lotions, and for washing wounds. A decoction of linden flowers is also used (only it is prepared in a ratio of 1:10).
An ointment is prepared based on tincture of calendula and petroleum jelly: the components are mixed in a ratio of 1:2, respectively. Apply the resulting mixture to the burn.

Causes of the pathological process

A burn is an open wound surface into which pathogenic microorganisms easily penetrate in the first minutes after injury. Depending on the time of occurrence, infection of a burn can be:

Primary, that is, it occurs in the first 5 days after the occurrence of a burn wound,
Secondary, develops 5–7 days after a person receives a burn injury. This type of infection is considered more severe and requires long-term therapy.

The causes of burn infection are as follows::

Touching the burn wound with your hands. There are a huge number of pathogenic microbes on human hands,
Washing the wound with dirty water,
Failure to comply with the rules of asepsis and antisepsis when treating and dressing a wound,
Use of non-sterile dressing material.

It should be noted that in people with weakened immune systems, burn suppuration can occur even if all the rules and principles of treatment are followed. This is due to the fact that the body’s weakened defenses are unable to cope even with conditionally pathogenic microorganisms. Favorable conditions are created for their activation.

Folk remedies for burns on the face

Important. It is strictly not recommended to independently treat facial burns resulting from exposure to fire, boiling water or aggressive chemicals.

Aloe juice is the most popular medicine for treating burns on the face. Using products based on it, special lotions and compresses are made.

Often, especially on hot sunny days, burns appear on the skin of the face. To eliminate them, you can use traditional medicine, which is easy to prepare yourself. The most popular are:

Special lotions are made with cotton swabs soaked in aloe juice. The drug is used 2-3 times a day, usually for no more than a week.
A teaspoon of propolis is mixed with three tablespoons of water. Soak a cotton pad in the resulting solution and apply it to the affected area for 10-15 minutes.
Essential oil from rose petals is mixed with vitamin E. This mixture should be rubbed into the damaged area of the skin two to three times a day.
It is recommended to apply a honey mask to the face for 15-20 minutes three to four times a day, after which the product is washed off with cold water. To prepare the drug, use a teaspoon of honey and vegetable oil, as well as an egg yolk. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous mass is formed.

Honey mask is used not only to treat burns on the face, but also as an effective cosmetic skin care product

Preventive measures

To prevent infection of a burn wound, you must adhere to certain rules and strictly follow the recommendations of your doctor:

Do not apply cosmetics, greasy ointments or creams to the burn. In this case, the infected wound does not receive oxygen and anaerobic microbes multiply in it,
You cannot pop blisters yourself . This can only be done by a surgeon under sterile conditions,
During treatment and dressing, you must not feel the wound surface with your hands.
Wash the wound only with antiseptic agents and clean water; do not use contaminated water, for example, from rivers or other bodies of water,
Sterile dressing materials (bandages, gauze) should be used.
Use medications prescribed by your doctor. You should not change the dosage and frequency of use on your own, or completely discontinue the drug.

Treatment of scars

Scars resulting from improper treatment of burns can cause the appearance of a keloid scar, which has a convex structure. Also, this type of scar is characterized by severe itching and burning. Both scars and scars can only be eliminated surgically, in particular by excision of the formation or laser resurfacing.

In addition, their treatment can be carried out through chemical peeling using fruit origin and creams that stimulate the regeneration process.