All of us have experienced accidentally grazing a hot pan or spilling steamy soup on at least once. In such situations, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is using butter, ice or any other home remedy to soothe the pain.
Truth be told, choosing the wrong DIY home treatment for burns and scalds can worsen your state and increase the chances of infections and scarring. This is why we put together a couple of tips to help you treat burns and scalds at home in the right way, how to choose the right soothing products and when to seek medical help.
How to Treat Burns and Scalds at Home?
Whether you accidentally burned yourself with hot oil while cooking, cleaning with chemicals or “got the most out of the sun”, the truth is that most of the first-degree and minor second-degree burns can be safely treated at home.
So first of all, when the accident occurs, it’s important to remove yourself or the person affected from the source of the burn and remove any clothing or jewellery from the burnt area, as this will protect the skin from any further harm.
Next, it’s important to cool the burn. For this purpose, make sure you keep the affected area under cool water for around 15 to 20 minutes or use a cool, wet compress instead.
Once the burn has cooled down, make sure you gently clean the area using water and mild soap. This is especially important to protect yourself or the victim from infections if any burn blisters break in.
Burns and scalds should be kept protected and moisturized so they can heal faster, so make sure you apply a burn gel to keep the skin hydrated and soothe the pain at the same time.
Once you apply a burn relief gel, loosely bandage the burn with a sterile, non-sticky dressing to reduce the pain and protect the area from blisters.
If the pain is persistent, it’s recommended to take painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen.
If you decide to spend time outside, don’t forget to protect the burnt area by staying under shade or covering it with light clothing. Also, it’s always recommended to use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.
Choosing the Right Soothing Gel for Burns
As we already said before, after you clean the affected area gently, it’s important to apply a burn dressing gel to soothe the area and protect it from further complications. At this point, know that the market offers a plethora of different skin-soothing products, and the truth is that not all of them are equally good for treating burnt areas.
So first of all, make sure you get a burn gel that offers immediate and rapid cooling. Such products aren’t only good to relieve the pain and speed up the healing process, but they also help to prevent any further damages to your skin.
Talking about soothing the pain and speeding up the healing process, it’s important to choose a burn gel dressing that contains at least 90% of water. In fact, such gels have been shown as very efficient in drawing out the heat away from the burned area and therefore, preventing it from progressing deeper into the skin. Also, water-based gels feature thicker consistency than water itself which means they’ll stay on the surface of the burn and evaporate very slowly.
Except for choosing a water-based gel for burn skin, it’s also important to opt for products that are non-adherent and non-toxic to ensure that you won’t irritate the affected area additionally. This is why many doctors recommend choosing products that are based on natural ingredients.
For instance, soothing gels containing aloe vera are among the most recommended options. This is due to aloe vera containing aloin, a very powerful natural compound that has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, making it ideal for treating first and second-degree burns.
Melaleuca or tea tree oils are also among the most commonly used soothing gel ingredients since they feature very powerful anti-inflammatory properties to reduce any swellings and antifungal properties that kill a huge range of yeast and fungi.
Not only burn gels with such content have been shown to be more effective than any traditional method for soothing the skin, but they also come in different sizes making them an affordable option for everyone.
What to Avoid?
Instead of applying a convenient burn ease gel, many people would rather go for different traditional methods for soothing their skin after an accident occurs. The truth is that not all of these methods work, and some of them can even irritate your skin even more.
If you accidentally burn yourself in any way, you shouldn’t apply butter to the burn by any chance. Butter contains a lot of fats, and once they get in touch with your skin, they’ll trap the heat and slow the releasing process, which will only make the burn worse and increase the pain.
Also, some people would go for putting milk, believing that the fat and the protein will promote healing. The truth is that milk can’t actually penetrate your skin and doesn’t have any soothing properties. Also, the natural bacteria in milk will only trigger and multiply a skin infection.
Antiseptic agents such as hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar are also not recommended since they can worsen your pain when they get in touch with your burnt skin. The same applies to toothpaste since it contains ingredients such as calcium and peppermint which will irritate the skin even more.
Finally, as much as it’s tempting, avoid touching or popping any blisters. Once you break them, you’re exposing your burnt area to external influences which are automatically increasing the risk of infections.
When to Seek Medical Help?
Some burns and scalds simply can’t be treated at home and the best thing you can do about yourself or the affected person is to seek medical attention. For instance, if the victim is a baby or an elder, make sure you call for emergency help, even if the wound doesn’t look that bad. This also applies to people suffering from other medical conditions, have weakened immune system and women that are pregnant.
Also, if the burn covers an area that is larger than the victim’s hand, involves sensitive body areas such as the face, feet, fingers genitals and hands or feels deep and without any sensation, seek medical help right away.
