How To Treat A Burn

By Leeanne Utiger
In this document you will learn how to treat a burn, so read carefully.

To begin with, there are three types of possible burns:

First Degree Burn, Second Degree Burn and a Third Degree Burn.

To learn how to treat a burn, it is also wise to learn what sort of burn you are wanting to treat. A first degree burn will only affect the outer layer of skin, and will be painful, red and will also possibly swell.

A second degree burn will affect both the outer and underlying layer of skin. This type of burn will be red, often swell, be painful and will often blister.

A third degree burn will extend into much deeper tissues. This type of burn will cause white or black charred looking skin, that may also be numb to the touch.

Before you learn how to treat a burn when a person does get a burn, you will have to determine just what sort of burn they have suffered and how many layers of skin have been burnt. Only then can you learn and know how to treat the burn a person has suffered appropriately. If you are not sure what form of burn the person has suffered, it is always best to then treat the burn as if it is a severe burn.

You can give prompt first aid before any medical assistant arrives at the scene, in the case of a sever burn, where medical assistant has had to be called for. This will keep the severity of the burn down somewhat. You may in hindsight prevent scarring, deformity and disability.

Some burns on certain parts of the body can be very very serious, such as the face and hands to name a couple.

If a person has suffered a burn from a housefire, all other people that were in the house should be treated by a medical assistant in the chance they have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.

What we call thermal burns are the most common of burn. This is when your skin comes into contact with something such as hot metal, hot liquid etc.

Now more about knowing how to treat a burn. If the burn appears to be a minor burn, one of the best methods in knowing how to treat a burn, is to run the affected area under cold water, even run a cold bath if you need to. Keep the affected area submerged in the cold water for at least 5 minutes. Make sure you do not however use ice water. Whatever you do, do NOT place butter on to a burn. This is a commonly heard method of treatment for a burn, however it does NOT help in any way, and should never be used.

After you have soaked the burn, you can now apply a dry sterile dressing if in fact the burn was bad enough to need this type of treatment. Some burns are artificial and will not need a dressing at all. Over the counter medication, such as Ibuprofen can help with the possible pain and any swelling that may arise from such a burn. Ask your local pharmacist for more advice on how to treat this form of burn if you are unsure.

Knowing how to treat a major burn, can in fact save a persons life. If such a burn happens to another person, and they are maybe still on fire, get them to instantly STOP, DROP, and ROLL..!!

This person will need to be wrapped in something thick to actually put the fire out that is burning them. Make sure once the fire has stopped burning, you do NOT try to remove any clothing which has burnt onto the skin. Now make sure that someone, or you yourself have call 911 or your local emergency number. Check the persons breathing, if they appear to have stopped breathing, you can now begin to treat this type of burn victim with CPR.

Below are a few things you should never do when you are learning how to treat a burn victim.

- DO NOT apply ointment, butter, ice, medications, cream, oil spray, or any household remedy to a severe burn.
- DO NOT breathe, blow, or cough on the burn.
- DO NOT disturb blistered or dead skin.
- DO NOT remove clothing that is stuck to the skin.
- DO NOT give the person anything by mouth, if there is a severe burn.
- DO NOT immerse a severe burn in cold water. This can cause shock.
- DO NOT place a pillow under the person's head if there is an airway burn. This can close the airway.

If you have suffered what you would call a minor burn and are still suffering pain after 48 hours, please seek your local doctor immediately for further advice.

I have explained a bit about how to treat a burn, if you need to know more, there are many ways you can in fact learn how to treat a burn.

See Also:
For further advice on how to treat a burn, refer to:

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