How do you treat a First-degree or Second-degree BURN? ?

Question

A few hours ago I burned myself. I reached my hand over a streaming tea-kettle, and burned my arm near the wrist on the steam. It's red, but no blisters, at least not yet. The burn is about the size of a hard ball, (baseball). I don't think that it's bad enough to go to the doctor, but want to treat it with something so I don't get celutitus, or any complications. How do I treat the burn?

Answer 1

Treat them with love and respect :P

Answer 2

i would still go to the hospital

Answer 3

alevera works great on burns(its a kind of plant, i didnt spell it right), dont run it under cold water that can cause nerve damage.

Answer 4

cool running water...cool the burn off... keep cooling it in cool water until it feels better

Answer 5

DON'T PUT COLD WATER ON IT!!!!!!!!! LUKE WARM.... COLD WATER WILL MAKE IT WORSE! I'M AN RMA (REGISTERED MEDICAL ASSISTANT... BELIEVE ME I KNOW!!!) Go to your local walgreens and pick up "Burn Jel Plus" it's by the first aid stuff, also get some guase and a wrap. put a nice amount of the burn jel on and put guaze and wrap it. it will take away the pain and will stop te burn from burning deeper (if you didn't know: when you burn your self the burn keeps burning inside, not bad but thats why it continues to hurt)... anyways in a few hours all that will be left is a few blisters from where it was burned the worst and those should go away in a couple days... good luck!

Answer 6

maybe you should go to the doctor just in case or put a cold wrag on it.

Answer 7

i did the same thing about a month ago if left untreated it may get infected like mine did you need to see a doctor and they will put burn cream and wrap it if left the scarring will be pretty bad and it will get extremely gross

Answer 8

First off, let's differentiate the two. A 1st-degree burn is similar to a sunburn. Usually no treatment is necessary. Just pain relievers if it hurts.

A second-degree burn, which you most probably have (it usually results from steam or direct contact to hot objects), results into pain, redness, and blisters. Sometimes the blisters come later. Anyways, you can first place a small burn area under running water. What I usually do is a sandwich dressing, where I place a saline-soaked gauze on top of the burn area, then apply silver sulfadiazine, then place another saline-soaked gauze on top. Then I cover the area with dry gauze. You can do it once or twice a day.

Do you need to take oral antibiotics? Probably not, since the silver sulfadiazine also contains antibiotics. Pain relievers is definitely needed since it is painful.

What you need to observe is the burn wound for the next few days. Go to the doctor if you see the following around the wound:

1. The wound becomes whiter. Usually the burn wound is pinkish or  reddish or mottled pink-white. If the wound is becoming whiter, this means the burn is getting deeper or an infection is present.

2. If the periphery is becoming reddish, inflamed, and elevated. It's another sign of burn wound infection.

3. Anything unusual in the wound.

If it's a superficial 2nd degree burn, it should heal in a week or two.

Answer 9

buy some bacitracin or burn ointment and cover it up with gauze for 3-5 days.  Keep it clean.  You can't get cellulitis from a minor burn.  It needs to breathe so do not put plastic over the gauze.

Answer 10

Put ice on it or run it under cold water.  Then put some neosporin on it to keep it from getting infected.  Solarcaine is also a good produc for the pain and alo vera is good to help it heal.  Some people suggest putting butter on a burn, but although it helps with the pain, it really is harmful for the burn.  A burn is similar to a fire on the skin and should be treated the same way.  

Answer 11

i think there r creams u can get. im a very bad cook and i have plenty of burns to prove it, and there was some sort of cream i found at wal mart for it, and now its just a scar.

Answer 12

air has the right idea

BUT DO NOT PUT ICE OR COLD WATER ON THE BURN.

it can further damage the skin. [ use cool water ]

also since it is probably a second degree burn you should avoid putting oily ointments directly onto the skin.  as some said you should use a burn jel or aloe and put it onto gauze.

and make sure you use a dressing that is sterile and won't fall apart or stick to your burn.

if it's a large burn you should probably go to the doctor to make sure it doesn't get infected and it's treated properly.

here this might help if you are unsure what type it is

(my source is a field book i have)

first degree burn:

skin colour is pink or red

slight swelling

skin is dry

tenderness to servere pain in injured area

second degree burn:

skin looks raw and is mottled red in colour

skin is moist and ranges in colour from white to cherry red

blisters that contain fluid

extreme pain.

good luck

Answer 13

for 1st degree put a cool cloth over it and maybe take some asprin if there is a lot of pain, but it will be fine. If blistering occurs than it is a 2nd degree burn and will need some medical attention. the wet cloth will work well, until you can get to a doctor. Once again, your gonna want some asprin or Tylenol, because trust me (i know) burns hurt... alot. hope this helps.

Answer 14

if you had third degree burns (blisters) it would have already blistered, get some burn cream from the store if you cant do that just put ice on it. that will make it more comfortable

Answer 15

Rub it and keep rubbing it with an ice cube until it's really cool. Wait a few minutes, then do it again. The trick to put out the fire, so as long as it feels like it's burning, keep up with the ice. Than try running it under cold water. Have any bee honey, rub that on it and cover for a couple days. Nothing else, rub it with Neosporin and cover it. Best to you young lady, hope it is just a first degree burn.