The weather is hot, and the bear children are wearing cool clothes at home. They may overturn grandpa’s teapot, open grandma’s pot, touch mother’s iron, and get burned by boiling water, steam, etc. risks are everywhere.
In the face of sudden burns in children, young parents are often at a loss. At this time, it is easy to listen to the local methods of the elderly at home to treat them, such as smearing soy sauce, applying toothpaste and so on.
Are folk remedies effective for burns? How should parents deal with burns properly?
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
There have been various “home remedies” for treating burns.
Bronze tricks include soy sauce, sesame oil, toothpaste, alcohol, ice cubes, etc. The king’s trick is actually – apply! cat! hair!
(Source: Internet)
Soy sauce: It may be reminiscent of sauce-flavored pork trotters and distract from being scalded. The actual situation is that the color of soy sauce conceals the color of the burned skin, which brings difficulties to the judgment of the burn condition and subsequent treatment. In addition, the salt in soy sauce can cause syneresis and shrinkage of wound cells, aggravate the damage and even cause serious infection.
Putting sesame oil: Nothing helps except for a tantalizing veggie scent on the burnt area. The scalded skin accumulates a lot of heat. After applying the oil, the heat cannot be released locally, but instead spreads deep into the skin, causing lasting damage.
Applying toothpaste: Toothpaste, especially mint-flavored toothpaste, do you think the cold body sensation can relieve the symptoms of the burn? But in fact, similar to applying sesame oil, applying toothpaste hinders the local heat dissipation of the burn, which will aggravate the injury.
Applying alcohol: Those who advocate applying alcohol may consider the volatilization of alcohol to dissipate heat, and think that alcohol can help relieve scalds. The alcohol is strongly irritating to the fresh wound surface, and even causes cell necrosis around the wound surface and deepens the wound surface.
Ice cubes: The idea of ”using cold to treat heat” has been widely used in ancient Chinese medicine. However, in cases where the epidermis of the skin has been damaged by scalding, the ice cubes can freeze the skin, further aggravating the damage.
Applying cat fur:Like “Monkey King”, cool! Really cool! You can also search for it. The downside is that bacteria from cat hair can contaminate the burn wound, which can cause infection and festering. Additionally, shaving can adversely affect a cat’s physical and mental health.
(Source: Internet)
Should I go to the hospital as soon as I get burned? uncertain!
You should quickly judge the degree of burns, make timely treatment, and go to the hospital if necessary.
How to judge the degree of burn?
Let’s briefly understand the tissue structure of the skin. The skin is divided into three layers from the outside to the inside, namely the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue [1].
Scalds are classified into first-degree, second-degree (superficial second-degree, deep second-degree) and third-degree [2]. The characteristics of burns of different degrees are shown in the table below [3].
Different degrees of scald are treated differently. The first is of course to leave the scalded environment immediately. No matter how flustered the situation is, memorizing the following five words will help you handle it correctly [4].
One “Rush”: No matter how many times the burn is, firstly cool the burn locally. The wound can be gently rinsed or soaked in running cold water for 10-30 minutes. The cold water can help the skin surface heat to dissipate quickly and reduce the damage to the deep tissue. If there is lime on the surface of the burn, you need to remove the lime before washing.
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
Two “Take Off”: After a thorough rinse and soak, carefully remove clothing and jewelry in cold water. If the wound adheres to the clothes, the clothes can be cut gently, and the clothes should not be peeled off forcibly, so as not to tear the blisters and expose the wound surface and cause infection.
Three “Applies”: When the scald is less than the second degree superficial, apply the scald medicine gently and evenly to the wound and surrounding skin. If the burn is deep second or third degree or the area is too large, it is not recommended to self-medicate, but to seek medical attention in time.
Four “covers”: For deep second, third or extensive burns, apply sterile gauze or a clean towel directly after the first two steps are completed (even a freshly unpacked aunt towel) cover the wound and secure it to reduce contamination and irritation.
Five “Send”: Send the patient to the hospital quickly for further treatment to avoid serious systemic complications.
Reviewer: Cao Xiaoxia| Deputy Chief Nurse, Emergency Department, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
References
[1] National Health Professional and Technical Qualification Examination Book Compilation Expert Committee, 2021 Dermatology and Venereology, Beijing, People’s Health Publishing House.
[2]Abdel-Sayed P, Michetti M, Scaletta C, et.al. Cell therapies for skin regeneration: an overview of 40 years of experience in burn units. Swiss Med Wkly [J ]. 2019, 149:w20079.
[3]Xu Honglian, edited by Wang Jing. Analysis and Nursing of Common Wounds. Fudan University Press.
[4]International Society for Burn Injury (ISBI) Practice Guidelines Committee: Steering Committee; Advisory Committee. ISBI Practice Guidelines for Burn Care. Burns [J], 2016, 42(5): 953-1021.
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