Correct first aid for potty burns, heat burns

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Tran Van Trong - Specialist in Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery - Aesthetics - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Danang International Hospital.
Potty burns, thermal burns can change the structure and dysfunction of the injured area, greatly affecting the daily activities of the patient. Timely first aid for potty and thermal burns can minimize the risk of complications caused by burns.

1. What is a potty fire? What is a thermal burn?

There are many types of burns such as thermal burns, chemical burns, electric shock burns, etc. In which, thermal burns are the most common form, mainly occurring in daily life. Thermal burns include dry heat and wet heat. Dry heat burns arise from contact with a hot iron, a hot motorcycle engine, a fire, a gas cylinder explosion, etc. Wet heat burns originate from causes such as contact with boiling water, soup, or hot water. hot, hot steam, etc. Thus, potty burns can be classified into a larger group than thermal burns.
The rate of motorbike burns in Vietnam is very high, especially for women who often wear short skirts or children due to playing, running, jumping and accidentally touching the muffler. In addition, the cause of potty burns can also come from a narrow house area, entangled in the exhaust pipe of a new car coming from outside.
Due to the characteristics of the potty, the burn area is small. However, the heat conduction from the pot to the skin is very fast, the skin temperature of the burn area remains high after the burn, so it can easily lead to deep damage. If not treated promptly and do not know how to take care of the potty burn properly, it will cause the skin to have dark scars that are very unsightly.
Meanwhile, the right handling, right after the accident will help reduce the burn area, reduce the depth of damage, the course of the burn will be lighter, the healing process will be more favorable and help limit bad scars after the burn. . Therefore, when suffering from potty burns, each person should pay attention to perform good first aid. First aid for potty burns is performed similarly to heat burn first aid.

2. Determine the severity - light of the burn

Grades of burns include:
1st degree burns: Affects only the outer epidermis, symptoms are red, painful areas of skin that will turn white to the touch, without blistering or pus.
2nd degree burns: Causes damage to the epidermis and part of the dermis (2nd layer of skin). Mild manifestations are red, painful areas of skin that turn white to the touch, blistered and still have hair roots. Severe manifestations can be painful or painless (the wound can be so deep that a nerve is cut that no pain is felt), it can be moist or dry (the burn is so deep that the sweat glands are destroyed), may turn white when touching the damaged skin, hair on the skin is shed.
3rd degree burn: The most severe type of burn, burns usually include the epidermis and dermis. Nerves, blood vessels, and hair follicles are all destroyed. If the burn is severe, the burn can affect bones and muscles.

3. Instructions for first aid for motorcycle burns

The procedure for first aid for a bulging motorcycle pothole is as follows:
Remove the cause of the burn as soon as possible to reduce the area and depth of the burn injury: Remove clothing from the burned area because clothing has a protective effect. heat. Cool the burned area, soak or irrigate the burned area with cool, clean water at a temperature between 16 - 20°C. The best time to soak is within 30 minutes of the burn. After the above period, the soaking has little effect. Time to soak the burn lasts 15 - 30 minutes (usually until the burning pain is gone). In other cases, instead of soaking, you can use a clean wet towel, and cover the burned area with clean wet clothes (you should change the cool towel often because the towel also absorbs heat and retains heat). Cover the potty burn, cover the wound with a clean, dry cloth, and apply light pressure to the burn area. Elevate the burned site to reduce swelling. There is a bandage commonly used for first aid for burns, which contains Hydrocolloid. A bandage containing a layer of Hydrocolloid, when applied to the wound, helps maintain a moist environment at the burn site (helps the wound heal 2 times faster than the dry environment in the wound), increases cell proliferation at the wound site. burns, helps wounds heal faster. At the same time, the Hydrocolloid bandage also helps to cover the burn well, relieve pain and make the patient's life more convenient (because the bandage has semi-permeable properties for easy bathing and good adhesion for convenient movement).

How to give first aid to potty burns with a bandage containing Hydrocolloid as follows:
Wash the healthy skin around the burn Use 0.9% physiological saline to clean the burn Remove foreign objects, dirt, if the blister dome remains intact, inject the dome of the burn to release fluid, then use a hydrocolloid bandage to cover the burn. Note: Hydrocolloid-containing semi-permeable dressings should only be used for clean, shallow, low-exudative burns. This dressing is contraindicated for infected burns or burns at risk of infection. In case the burn is swollen, hot, red, painful, inflamed, has pus, ... the patient should go to the hospital for proper care and treatment.

4. Some notes when giving first aid to potty and heat burns

Motorcycle muffler burns are often prone to deep burns because the temperature of the muffler is very high, so the treatment time is often prolonged, even up to 3-4 weeks. When providing first aid and treatment for potty burns, attention should be paid to the following issues:
Should you apply ice for potty burns? Do not use very cold water or ice on the burn. The reason is that the ice crystals will freeze the cells, causing wet necrosis, making the patient's burn worse. Necrosis due to frostbite does not develop strongly, but it makes it difficult to preserve the ability to treat burns, even forcing amputation of the burned part;
Should you use toothpaste if you burn the muffler? Do not put toothpaste on the burn. The reason is because toothpaste contains alkali, if it is exposed to a favorable environment such as burns caused by high temperatures, it can penetrate deep into the wound, causing many dangerous complications or infections in the skin. burned area, slow healing, or increase the severity of the burn.

Other taboos Do not soak burns with warm water, do not apply fats, oils, soy sauce, fish sauce, pickle sauce, chicken eggs, tobacco, herbal medicines of unknown origin, etc. Burned area without cleaning the wound because it can cause infection, cause skin necrosis, and have bad effects.
Besides, the patient should not slide the burn ulcer, remove the blister. At the same time, it is not recommended to apply fresh turmeric or creams with turmeric ingredients on the burn to treat dark spots because the rate of allergy due to fresh turmeric is quite high and many people after applying turmeric have a long-lasting black shine on the scar, which is very difficult. overcome.
When a motorcycle potty burns, the patient should follow the first aid method for a potty burn according to the instructions above, absolutely do not self-treat with self-made drugs or folk experience because it can make the burn worse. cause unpredictable complications. Family members should take the burn patient to the hospital so that the doctor can determine the extent of the burn injury and suggest an appropriate treatment plan.
Dr. Trong has over 10 years of experience in Pediatric Surgery and Plastic Surgery - Aesthetic, and soon became one of the leading doctors in the field of Children's Surgery, especially Laparoscopic Surgery. and Plastic Surgery - Aesthetic.

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Reference source: Ministry of Health web portal