How to provide first aid for burns: practical advice

Our life, unfortunately, is not complete without accidents. Today we will talk about burns. It often happens that people do not know how to behave and provide first aid in extreme situations, they get lost. In order to minimize the consequences of these cases to a minimum and learn how to provide care for burns, we decided to write this article. What are the types of burns? What degree, how to determine it yourself? When to see a doctor, and when to help at home? Read more at estet-portal.com.

What are burns?

Firstly: burns are classified according to the type of injury causing factor:

• Thermal (occurs when a hot object, flame, boiling water, hot oil, etc. gets on the skin);
• Chemical (occurs on contact with chemicals such as acids, alkalis, heavy metal salts, etc.)

The most important thing in both cases is to remove the source of the skin lesion as soon as possible.

Burns are also classified by severity:

• 1st degree (pain and severe redness of the skin);
  2nd degree (pain, blistering);
• 3rd degree (pain, wound, as a result of broken blisters);
• 4th (pain, lack of sensation and charring of the wound).

First Aid for Burns

If clothing catches fire, do not rip it off under any circumstances, try to extinguish it with a blanket or water. Don't run, it will only ignite the flames more.

If you are scalded with boiling water, put the surface under a stream of cold water for 10-20 minutes. You don't need to apply ice, it will scratch the already injured surface.

If you get hot plastic or resin, try to cool it with water as well. Do not scrape off the stuck piece of foreign matter, this will aggravate the situation.

In case of chemical burns, after removing the source of irritation, rinse abundantly under running water. Do not rub the area with a wet sponge, as you will rub the chemical into the burn even more. Better go to the emergency room.  Do not treat yourself at home, as intoxication of other organs can occur through the skin.

Remove all jewelry and clothing from the burn area. Do not rip off pieces of tissue if they are stuck to the wound, just carefully cut around the lesion. Cover the burn with a clean and dry piece of cotton and go to the doctor.

It is not necessary to lubricate the burn site with oil, alcohol, or any other means without a prescription. You can only attach the infection to the affected area.

In addition to the cases described above, there are also electrical burns. With them, everything is much more complicated. First you need to make sure that the source of damage is de-energized. Then check your breathing and heartbeat. Seek immediate medical attention

First aid for burns is very important, the main – do not miss the moment and provide it in a timely manner.

Treatment of burn conditions

Only sunburns and 1st and 2nd degree burns are supposed to be treated at home:

• To relieve pain, you can apply a wet cold cloth or take a cool bath and shower;
• If the temperature rises, or the pain is severe enough, you can use the painkillers available at hand (however, carefully read the instructions so as not to harm, especially children);
• Certified ointments or sprays can be used topically;
• When blisters form, be careful not to damage them. If the blister bursts. The risk of infection in the wound increases.

Protect newly healed areas from cold and sunburn. The skin in these places is very delicate and can quickly be injured again. Try not to smoke. Smoking slows down the process of blood circulation, and the process of tissue regeneration takes much longer.

Try to be more careful and respond in time to the situation with estet-portal.com