A skin burn always causes a lot of suffering to the patient, even if the depth and area of ​​tissue damage is not too great. But chemical burns have their own characteristics. The essence of this phenomenon is the interaction of a chemical that has fallen on the skin with cellular protoplasm. Some of these substances deprive the cell of moisture and destroy it, others cause an intensive release of oxygen or other substances that sharply increase the temperature in the tissues and lead to burns, others provoke an intense release of heat by skin cells when interacting with sunlight, due to which the temperature on & nbsp; the surface of the skin soars to extreme values, and a burn appears. It is very important to know what substance caused the chemical burn of the skin in order to provide qualified assistance to the patient.

How to guess which substance caused the chemical burn of the skin

Chemical skin burns can be caused by alkalis, acids, salts of heavy metals, as well as high concentrations of essential oils and some active elements contained in plants, and other substances.

The level of tissue damage in a chemical burn depends on the following factors:

  • substance concentration;
  • depth of penetration of the substance into the skin and area of ​​the lesion;
  • amount of active agent applied to the skin;
  • time of contact of the chemical with the skin.

Each chemical agent, interacting with the skin, causes a special chemical reaction, by which it is possible to determine which substance with a certain degree of probability caused a chemical burn. So, for example, acid causes tissue dehydration, in which a lot of heat is released & nbsp; and proteins coagulate. As a result of coagulation, the skin at the site of acid ingress is covered with a dense dry scab, due to which the lesion is clearly delimited from the surrounding tissues and is not too deep. The ingress of sulfuric acid stains the scab in brown, nitric acid – gives a yellow-green tint, salt – gives an off-white scab, carbolic – paints white, and hydrogen peroxide – gray.

A chemical burn with alkali causes saponification of fats and the formation of alkaline albuminates, and the resulting scab does not prevent the penetration of the chemical  agent deep into the skin. Therefore, alkali burns are deeper and more damaging to tissues.

Types of chemical burns and characteristics of the substances that cause them

Chemical skin burns are usually divided into four groups according to the degree of tissue damage.

  1. I degree - moderate hyperemia, edema, the lesion is clearly limited, the patient complains of pain and burning;
  2. II degree – intense hyperemia, death of  epithelium of the skin and upper layers of the dermis, blistering, severe pain
  3. III degree - necrosis of the skin, a change in its color to white or dark, severe pain, redness and swelling of the surrounding tissues;
  4. IV degree - death of the skin, complete necrosis of the underlying fatty tissue, ligaments, muscles, bones.

According to the mechanism of action on the skin, substances that can cause chemical burns are divided into the following groups:

  • oxidizers – causing burns due to the release of atomic oxygen (potassium permanganate, sodium hypochloride);
  • dehydrators – destroying skin cells by depriving them of moisture (sulfuric, oxalic acids);
  • corrosives – remove fat from the skin (phenol, sodium hydroxide);
  • substances toxic to the skin – destroy the skin, causing boils and blisters (gasoline, methyl bromide).

Peculiarities of treatment of chemical burns in patients

The success of the treatment of a chemical burn depends on correctly rendered first aid, the main principle of which is to remove the damaging substance from the skin as quickly and completely as possible by washing with running water and, if possible, neutralize its effect.

Alcohol-free preparations containing iodine or silver are recommended, which contribute to the rapid drying of the wound with the formation of a protective crust. For treatment, drugs are used that accelerate the regeneration of skin cells and restore blood supply (for example, solcoseryl, bepanthen, panthenol). Sea buckthorn or rosehip oil gives a good effect.

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