1st, 2nd and 3rd Degree Burns

A burn is considered to be a major type of injury and a lot of people are known to suffer from burns that can be caused due to various reasons. Knowing about burns, their degrees and their treatment will enable you to take the right course of action in case you or anybody around you suffers from a burn injury. The first aid provided immediately after a burn accident can help save the life of the person suffering the burn. The first thing that you need to determine at the time of a burn injury is the degree or extent to which the person has been burnt. This is essential in carrying out the rest of the treatment procedure. Here's some more information on the difference between burns suffered from.

1st Degree Burns
This is the most minor type of burn injury that a person can suffer from and the treatment can be administered at home itself. In this type of burn, only the outer layer of the skin is damaged and hence the treatment and recovery is comparatively easier. This type of burn can be caused by heat (fire) and the most common type of 1st degree burn is sunburn, something that most people suffer from in the summers.

Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of a 1st degree burn include redness, minor pain and swelling and sensitivity when touched.

Treatment
1st degree burns take somewhere around 4 to 6 days to heal completely. Treatment for this type of burn will include soaking the burnt area in cool or ice-cold water and applying a cool compress. The skin starts healing when the layer of skin that was burnt turns dry and starts peeling. There are also a number of home remedies available that can be used to cure and soothe the skin of this type of burn.

2nd Degree Burns
As compared to the 1st degree burn, 2nd degree burns are considered to be relatively serious. These are burns that affect the dermis of the skin but are superficial up to a certain extent. It can be caused due to heat or due to the skin being exposed to a chemical.

Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of a 2nd degree burn include redness, swelling and blistering of the area that has suffered the burn injury. The pain may be quite severe and blistering makes the skin prone to infection if appropriate treatment is not administered.

Treatment
A doctor should be consulted before treating a 2nd degree burn on your own. Treating 2nd degree burns would include cooling the burned area, consumption of pain killers for pain relief and covering the blistered areas to prevent infection. Topical application of medications should be avoided. This type of burn would take somewhere around a month to heal, depending on how deep the burn has affected the skin.

3rd Degree Burns
They are considered to be the most severe and most damaging type of burn, that affects and destroys all the three layers of the skin. It may at times also damage the underlying skin tissues as well.

Symptoms
The signs and symptoms of this type of burn include numbness of the area that is burnt due damage of the underlying tissues and nerves. Skin damage and injury is quite evident, accompanied by pus formation and blistering.

Treatment
Since it is a severe type of burn injury, medical attention is required for quite some time, until the patient starts recovering. The time required for healing of 3rd degree burns will depend on the extent of skin and nerve damage, but usually it takes a very long time to heal.

Care and medical attention is of utmost importance for the quick healing and recovery of the patient suffering from any of the burn degrees.