First Aid Burn Treatment

Ouch! The burning sensation and the pain followed by the damage of your skin. The burns are really traumatic. You can get your skin burned due to fire, heat, radiation, sunlight, electricity or chemicals. So, a first aid treatment is most important to cool down the burn and provide faster relief from the pain and irritation. Learn about the first aid burn treatment and how to treat burns in the right way.

Types of Burns
You need to identify the type of burn and act accordingly. The first-degree burns swell a little and are painful and red. When pressed, they turn white. After 1-2 days the skin over the burn might peel off. With minor burn treatment, these type of burns usually heal in 3 to 6 days. The second-degree burns are thicker. They are painful, have blisters and may swell a lot. Also, the skin becomes very red or splotchy, in this case. These type of burns take 2-3 weeks to be healed. In the case of third-degree burns, all the layers of the skin are damaged. The burned skin will appear white or completely charred. Surprisingly these burns cause little or no pain. The reason is the damage of the nerves in the skin and hence, these burns take a very long time to heal.

Treatment for Burns
The skin burn treatment depends on the type of burn you have. In case of a first or a second-degree burn, which is covering an area larger than three inches in diameter, or a burn over your face, hands, feet or genitals, you need to see a doctor immediately. Emergency medical attention is must in case of the third-degree burns, so take the victim to a hospital as soon as possible or call the emergency medical service.

First Aid Burn Treatment
First step of skin burn treatment is that you have to stop the burning process and take the victim away from the source of heat. You can use water to douse the flames or smother with a blanket or roll the victim over the ground. Rescuers must take care of themselves. Remove the clothing as soon as possible as it may retain heat, even in case of burns due to hot water or steam. Clothing of adherent material like nylon should be immediately removed. Do remember that you should never use an ice cube over the burned skin in order to cool the burn, because this will just make it worst.

First Degree Burns: For first degree burn treatment, soak the burn in cold water followed by applying an antibiotic ointment or a skin care product like aloe vera cream. To protect the burned area, apply a loose bandage which does not self adhere to your skin over the burn. This will ensure that the burn does not come in contact with the air or any potential harm. You can also take over-the-counter painkillers to help with the pain. The first aid burn treatment in this case is just required to relieve the pain while the burn heals.

Second-Degree Burns: Run cool water over it for about 15-20 minutes. If the burned area is small then you can place cool wet cotton cloths over it every day for about 15 minutes. Wash your hands and apply an antibiotic skin cream. Avoid applying a lotion of any type if the blisters have broken; it will lead to infection. You can try honey, chamomile lotion or lavender oil instead. Apply any of them over the affected skin area. Cover the burned skin with a dry nonstick dressing; this has to be changed everyday except if the burnt area is very small. Check the burned skin daily for any indications of increased pain, swelling, infection, redness or pus. If you observes any of these, you must see your doctor immediately. Check with your doctor about taking the tetanus shots. Also, do not break any blisters formed over the skin to avoid further infection. The itching of burned skin is common while it heals, so it is better to cut your fingernails so that you don't scratch it. Up to a year, the burned area may be sensitive to sunlight.

For burn care in case of first or second degree burn, you can use cool milk as well. Soak the burned area in cool milk for about 15-20 minutes followed by a quick rinse with cool water. The fats and lipids in the milk help in the healing process of the burn.

Third-Degree Burns: As mentioned above these burns are major and need immediate medical attention, hence, take the victim to the hospital right away. Don't try taking off clothing stuck to the burn and don't even soak the burned skin in water. Avoid application of any type of ointment. You can just cover the burned skin area with the help of a clean cloth or sterile bandage till you get any medical assistance.

Electrical and Chemical Burns Treatment
In case of an electrical burn like from a power line, you need to immediately take the victim to the hospital. Serious injuries are often caused inside the body and may not show over the skin in this case. Similarly, it is best to reach the doctor in case of a chemical injury. Till then, you can wash the affected area of skin with large amounts of water and remove any clothing which has chemicals over it. Remember not to put anything over this area as it might lead to a chemical reaction and worsen the burn.

Just follow the above first aid burn treatment tips and make sure you don't start the treatment of the burn as any normal injury. Don't panic, be calm and think properly before you act. In case of any confusion or severe burns, it is always good to consult the doctor instead.