How To Treat A Household Burn
Skin burns most commonly occur around the home and most frequently in the kitchen. While the severity of the burn is going to be minimal, unless you give it proper treatment it can run the risk of infection or if left unattended it could cause more damage to the skin.
Since burns are so common around the house – it’s just so easy to touch against the hot stove or forget that the saucepan is still hot – it’s important that you are prepared with easy access to some up to date medical supplies which can include a sterile bandage, gloves and microporous tape.
One of the first things you need to do is to remove the heat from the skin. Since skin is such a bad conductor, it retains the heat and will continue to cause damage until the heat is completely removed. The best way to do this is under a running cold tap or to submerse it entirely in water.
You need to keep the burn under water for at least twenty minutes before you take any further action. If the burn continues to sting, hold it under water for another 20 minutes.
It is very important not to try and break the blister that might form. Also, don’t put any kind of adhesive plaster or cotton wool over the burn, it may stick and cause further damage when you try to remove it.
Burns are very susceptible to infections so even for minor burns you need to cover it up with some clean, lint free dressing. You can secure it with the microporous tape from your home medical kit.
The other types of burns that can happen around the house are chemical burns and need to be treated with more care than heat burns due to the fact that the chemicals will keep burning the skin if they are not quickly removed. It should also be noted that depending on the chemical, adding water to a chemical burn can make matters even worse as it may react with the chemical to form an acid.
Two household products that do this are oven cleaner and drain cleaner. If you happen to splash any on you get a dry, lint free cloth to soak up or remove as much of the chemical as possible. If the chemical is liquid based you can wash it under cold running water.
Regardless of the type of burn, you should make sure you have some suitable burn care supplies at home which are up to date and easily accessible.
Tags: burns, first aid, medical supplies