Burns are unexpected accidents in everyday life, many people have been burned with boiling water, burned on motorbikes … with different degrees.
But when you are not equipped with the basic knowledge of emergency first aid for a burn, it can make the burn worse, affect the health and prolong the treatment.
Therefore, understanding the degree of burns and effective first aid is a very important factor in helping to control the wound well and shorten the recovery time.
Typical Causes Of Burns
In everyday life, there are many unexpected situations leading to burning injuries, depending on the agent and the degree of burns will cause different serious injuries.
According to dermatologists, the causes of burns are divided into 4 main groups as follows:
- Heat burn.
- Chemical burns.
- Electric burns.
- Burns caused by physical rays.
In particular, the cause of heat burns is the most common accident in most burns, because they can occur in daily activities, especially when cooking.
For adults, certainly many people have experienced burns from motorbikes, burns from a fire are dry burns in the temperature burn group. Food burns or boiling water burns are also the most common types of burns.
Some of the less common are electrical or chemical burns, which also pose a high degree of danger to the patient’s life if the situation is serious. Therefore, ensuring labor safety, being careful about temperature, electricity is something that needs special attention.
Understanding Burn Degrees
How do I differentiate levels of burns? Currently, based on the degree of burn damage caused to the skin, people divide the levels of burns into 3 categories as follows:
- First-degree (superficial) burns: Damaged skin becomes red, but not flaky.
- Second-degree (partial thickness) burns: The damaged skin, blisters appear on the surface, and blisters at the same time.
- Third-degree (full thickness) burns: Burns happen over a large area, and the skin turns white.
In the majority of burns, it falls into only one of the three categories above. However, in fact, there are still some special rare cases, severe burns will dangerously occur all symptoms of third-degree burns. Besides, it also spreads beyond the surface of the victim’s skin. tendons and bones.
More specifically, each degree of burn causes the following injuries:
First-degree (superficial) burns
First-degree burns are the lightest degree of burns, meaning the least amount of skin damage. A burn of the first degree is also known as a super-vertebrae because it affects only the outermost skin epidermis of the burn.
Signs that recognize first degree burns include symptoms such as:
- In areas of skin that have been burned due to heat, there is slight redness.
- The sick person has a burning, burning sensation.
- After the burn heals, the burned skin will dry and peel the skin.
When the first-degree burns, the healing time takes place only about 7-10 days, leaving very few scarring sequelae in the affected area of the burn.
In case of extensive burns in special skin areas such as spine, shoulder, knee, elbow, arm … the patient should still go to the hospital to be diagnosed and beaten by a specialist. price status, to avoid undesirable risks from occurring.
Usually, first-degree burns can be treated and cared for at home by simple methods.
Second-degree (partial thickness) burns
A second-degree burn is more serious than a degree 1 burn. At this point, the skin damaged by burns is not only on the top epidermis but also on the surface of the skin. blistering, soreness, and redness.
The formed blisters have a chance to develop on the skin’s surface. Over time, these skin tissues become thicker, soft, and scaly-like called fibrinous secretions.
When observing blisters on the surface of the skin, means that the burn is developing in a bad direction, prolonging the recovery time.
In special cases, the doctor may prescribe the patient needing a skin transplant for treatment. In the rest, most of the cases with second-degree burns, the recovery time usually lasts about 2-3 weeks.
Third-degree (full thickness) burns
Third-degree burns are also very serious, causing serious consequences to the health and morale of the victim.
This is the degree of deep burn, not only affecting the surface or outer skin layer, but the damage is so widespread and ingrained that the patient no longer feels pain. Grade 3 burns also have a high risk of affecting the nerves of the patient.
The area of burns is an important factor, the more widespread the burn is, the higher the proportion of patients facing the risk of death. Burns of over 15% in adults and 8% in infants were considered severe.
When suffering from a third-degree burns, it will cause easy-to-see manifestations: The skin ring exposed to high temperatures becomes waxy, and turns white at the same time. Besides, there will be areas of skin that are cut off and turn dark brown.
In this case, usually, there will be no more degree 2 blisters that need to be corrected with surgery and physical therapy may be needed to treat it.
When grade 3 burns are not treated in an emergency and timely manner, the risk of severe muscle spasms, skin infections, and sequelae after treatment is very high. After diagnosis, depending on the severity and area of burns on the patient’s body, it is possible to conclude the exact recovery time.
Grade 3 burns are very serious, so patients should not self-treat at home, but need to go to reputable medical facilities for proper treatment by a burn specialist, to avoid complications and complications. dangerous conditions, especially the risk of death when the burn is too severe.
First Aid and Relieve Pain from Burns
What to quickly burn from burns? How to handle burns? According to many unwarranted methods of oral transmission, only when burned should pour fish sauce or toothpaste on the burn to avoid infection.
This is a completely wrong way to do it, and there have been many cases leading to unfortunate consequences, causing patients from mild burns to worsen and the infection to spread.
According to medical experts, depending on the degree of burns, we will apply the following first aid and pain relief methods:
First-degree burns
For first-degree burns, the wound can be cleaned by soaking the wound gently in a small, clean, cool bath for at least 5 minutes.
Note that using cool water should not use ice or apply ice directly to the wound. When the ice is too cold it will make the wound worse.
In this case, acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be used as needed for pain relief. In addition, you can use a topical anesthetic like cocaine or apply it to the burn with a protective lotion such as aloe vera gel or cream in the affected area.
You can equip these drugs available in your home medicine cabinet, in case emergencies need to be used.
Using an ointment with an antibiotic ingredient to apply directly to the burn, then wrapping it with a liquid gauze to protect the injured area is the correct method of treating first-degree burns.
In addition, you can take pain relievers to improve the pain caused by the burn.
Second-degree burns
For second-degree burns, you can clean the burn by soaking it gently in a small, clean, cool bath of water for at least 15 minutes. If the burn spreads, you can use a clean, soft cloth to soak cool water and then apply it to the burn for 2-3 minutes daily.
If the pain is bothersome, you can take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain relief.
What to do if the burn is a blister? Ointments with an antibiotic ingredient can be applied directly to the burn and even blisters to help the wound heal.
You can use a dry dressing to cover the burn. Be sure to change to a new bandage every day and clean your hands before washing the burn.
What should I do if a blister is broken? As soon as the burn breaks, use a clean cotton ball to wipe the surroundings and wash the wound. Then, use a patch to gently fix the burn. Every day a new patch should be changed and ointment should be applied to the wound and then re-applied.
When the burn shows signs of swelling, pain, redness, or unusual signs, you should go to the hospital to be examined by a doctor. Besides, when the wound heals, there is a phenomenon of pulling the young skin, causing itching absolutely should not scratch.
Since burns are very sensitive to sunlight, sunscreen should be used before going out for about a year.
Third-degree burns
Need to quickly remove all clothing … stick in the burned area. Absolutely do not use medicine to apply on the burn and do not immerse the burn in water.
Raise the portion of the burned wound above the heart, and can be applied with a wet, cool dressing on the wound. Or you can skip this step and quickly bring the patient to the hospital immediately.
In the event of an electrical or chemical burn, the patient should be brought to the hospital promptly as quickly as possible to avoid serious damage to the body organs.
Preventing Burns
How to prevent burns, especially in homes with young children, should pay attention to the following issues:
- Keep children away from cooking areas, gas cylinders, thermos bottles, and other items that can easily burn.
- Should have a home fire extinguisher in case of an emergency.
- Periodically check the machinery in the house.
- Bathing for children needs to test the water first, do not bathe with too hot water.
- Use an electrical outlet with a stopper or insulating foil inside.
- Gloves should be used when handling chemicals. Chemicals and dangerous substances should be kept out of reach of children, can add warning stickers to avoid confusion.
- Use sun protection products such as UV jackets, sunscreens to limit damage to the skin.
- When smoking, make sure the filter is completely extinguished before disposing of it.
Hopefully, this article has provided you with useful information related to the degree of simulation and the correct direction. In the case of severe burns, feeling pain, and discomfort, it is necessary to quickly bring the patient to a doctor for first aid and proper treatment, to limit the occurrence of infection.
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The site cannot and does not contain medical advice. The medical information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information. We encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals.