Burns is a usual everyday injury. While some can be treated at home, others require the attention of medical experts to prevent the risks of infection. Whether or not it requires medical care will depend on the degree of the burn.
AFC Urgent Care Louisville can treat up to second-degree burns, as long as they aren't bigger than three inches. Don't waste time suffering in the emergency room, visit AFC Boulder to get your burn treated now.
First Aid for First-Degree Burns
First-degree burns are burn injuries on the top layer of a person's skin. Symptoms usually include redness and mild swelling. These burns are minor, and symptoms usually lessen within a day or two. Common causes of first-degree burns may include accidentally coming in contact with hot objects and getting sunburnt.
First-degree burns are not as critical as higher-degree burns and can be treated with a first aid kit.
First-aid tips for treating first degree burns:
- You may apply a wet cloth over the burn and cool it under running cold water. If the burned area is your mouth, holding an ice cube in your mouth would do. You need to cool it for no less than 10 minutes.
- You may apply petroleum jelly once a while for a couple of days to the burned area.
- Loosely wrap the burned area with a bandage to protect the skin.
- You may take common over-the-counter pain relievers to ease the pains.
First Aid for Second-Degree Burns
Second-degree burns go beyond the top skin layer. Persons suffering from second-degree burns may experience blisters, inflammation, pain, and redness of the skin.
First-aid tips for this type of burn include the following:
- Put the burned area in cool water for at least 10 minutes. You do not need to use ice or cold water.
- Wash your hands properly, rinse and dry the burn with a clean, soft cloth.
- Remove any accessories you wear on the burned area if it swells.
- If you notice blisters on the burned area, you mustn't burst them. They protect the injury from potential infections.
- It would not be wise to apply butter or grease on the injury.
- Loosely wrap the injury with a bandage if the blister breaks.
- Replace the bandage with a clean one every time it gets smudged.
First Aid for Third-Degree Burns
Third-degree burns are life-threatening burns that penetrate the skin and reach the fatty skin layers. Third-degree burns sometimes reach other structures beyond the fatty layers of the skin. These could be chemical and electrical burns. It would be best to call 911 immediately.
However, tips to follow while help is on its way include:
- Wrapping the burned area with a loose cloth
- For chemical burns, take off any clothing or accessory that touched the chemical for chemical burns.
- Use protective gloves before removing any dry remnants of the chemical.
- Rinse the burned area with water for more than 15 minutes
- If the injury begins to hurt again, repeat the rinsing for another 10 minutes
- If it is an electrical burn, ensure that the person is safe to touch.
- Administer CPR if the person is unconscious. Only do this if you have been trained.
- Call 911.
