|
| What is It? |
|
| Thermal injury to the skin, and sometimes other organs, from contact with heat, radiation, electricity or chemicals. |
|
| Causes |
|
| 1. Rise in skin temperature form heat sources, such as fire, steam or electricity. Open flame and hot liquid are most common causes. |
| 2. Tissue injury caused by chemicals or radiation, including sunlight. |
| 3. Lighting strikes can cause internal burns with minimal external signs. |
| |
| Signs and Symptoms |
|
| Burns are of three types: |
| * 1st degree burns are limited to the upper skin layer. They produce redness, tenderness, pain, swelling and slight fever (minimal tissue damage). Pain resolves in 48 - 72 hours. |
| * 2nd degree burns affect deeper skin layers. Symptoms are more severe and usually include blisters. Heals within 10 - 14 days. |
| * 3rd degree burns involve all skin layers. Skin is white (appears cooked), and there may be no pain in the initial stages. Cannot heal spontaneously. |
|
| Risk Factors |
|
| * Stress, carelessness, smoking in bed or excess alcohol consumption, all of which make accidents more likely. |
| * Occupations involving exposure to heat or radiation, such as fire fighting, police work or defense-factory work. |
| * Faulty wiring. |
| * Hot water heaters set too high. |
|
| Prevention |
|
| * Fireproof your home. Install smoke alarms, plan emergency exits and have regular fire drills. |
| * Wear protective gear and observe safety precautions around heat or radiation. |
| * Don't touch uncovered electrical wires. |
| * Teach children safety rules for matches, fires, electrical outlets, cords and stoves. |
| * If you have small children, put safety caps on unused outlets. Discard frayed cords. |
| * Wear sun-screen lotion outdoors. |
|
| Diagnosis and Treatment |
|
| General Measures |
|
| Therapy will be dependent on depth of burns and total body surface area affected. |
| For less-severe burns: |
| * Apply non-prescription body lotion to cool 1st degree burns. |
| * Immerse 1st degree, small 2nd or 3rd degree burn areas in cold water for 10 minutes to reduce pain and swelling. |
| * Deep the burn area clean. Soak in a tub or use lukewarm compresses once a day. You may add 2 tablespoons of powdered detergent to the tub to help soak of crusting areas. Use plain water for compresses. |
| * Prop the burn area higher than the rest of the body, if possible. |
| * Hospitalization for all large 3rd degree urns and some 2nd degree burns. Special burn centers exist for the worst cases. |
| * Surgery to graft skin over 3rd degree burns. |
| |
| Medication |
|
| * To treat minor burns, you may use non-presciption antibiotic ointments, topical anesthetics and Tylenol. |
| * To treat severe burns, pain relievers, antibiotics and tetanus booster shots may be required. |
|
| Activity |
|
| Depends on location and extent of the burn. Getting a burn patient up and moving as soon as possible after treatment begins is an important part of the recovery. |
|
| Diet |
|
| No special diet for minor burns. More severe burns require intravenous feeding. |
|
| Possible Complications |
|
| * Infection at the burn site. |
| * Pneumonia. |
| * Shock due to loss of fluids and electrolytes (severe burns). |
| * Permanent scars. |
| * Vision impairment, if eyes are injured. |
| * Tetanus and other infections. |
|
| Prognosis |
|
| Most patients recover if the extent of burns (including 3rd degree burns) is limited to 50% of the body surface. For less-severe burns, skin usually repairs itself in 1 to 3 weeks. |
|
|
