Thermal burn: first aid and treatment at home

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Thermal burns are characterized by redness, swelling, skin flushing, the appearance of blisters, in more complex stages affects tissue, muscles, sometimes internal organs. The reason for such defeats is often human inattention or accident.

In spite of the stage of thermal burn, the patient needs first aid. At stages 1 and 2, the victim can treat at home, the 3rd and 4th stages are the heaviest - the person needs hospitalization and hospital treatment.

Thermal burns 1, 2 and 3 degrees

Thermal burns occur when exposed to high temperature skin, the sources of which can be:

• solid, incandescent objects, including cookware;
• open flame from any source, from a gas burner to an ordinary match;
• hot water from any source, including natural streams;
• steam from a pipe or hose in the production, heating appliances, household utensils.

Approximately all burns are conventionally divided into non-extensive ones - up to 10% of the body is affected, and extensive - over 10%.The initial value in this case is usually considered to be the area of ​​the victim's palm, which equals 1% of the total area of ​​the body. So with the help of the palm you can determine how many percent of the body is affected by the burn.

• The extensive burns of cause a general pain reaction, sometimes with fever and a headache, a feeling of discomfort and soreness in the area of ​​injury;
• With extensive lesions of , there are more serious complications and disorders in the work of the whole organism - a burn disease.

Depending on the degree of penetration of the burn to a certain depth and area of ​​skin damage, four main degrees of damage are identified. The degree of burn is expressed as a percentage, which indicates the area of ​​the skin lesion.

• 4 degree .Burns cover the entire area, and the necrosis of most of the tissues occurs. There is a risk of fatalities.
• 3 degree of is characterized by tissue damage to the muscles, and sometimes to the bones, with bubbles, most often bursting, forming a scab. The affected area can be surrounded by a second degree burn zone with small bubbles filled with clear liquid, and reddened skin( first degree).
• 2 degree of is expressed in redness and swelling of the skin, dressed or bursting of blisters, and also forming with time a thin scab.
• 1 degree. The affected area gradually swells and turns red. At this time, a person experiences pain and burning sensation in the area of ​​the affected tissue. The symptomatology manifests itself within 2-3 days, and then disappears. After about a week, the skin looks completely healthy.

Of course, the degree of burn will depend on many factors, for example, on the duration of exposure to high temperatures. A wrongly rendered help with thermal burns can cause additional injuries when removing clothing or an object that caused a burn. Therefore, it is very important to know the rules of first aid for thermal burns.

First aid for thermal burns

In order to provide first aid at home, it is necessary to perform a number of procedures aimed at eliminating pain in a person and preventing contamination of the damaged skin area:

1. Immediately extinguish flames on the clothing and skin of the victim by covering it with a cloth( this will cause the air to stop flowing), or throw off burning clothing. You can extinguish a flaming piece of clothing, pelting it with earth, sand or snow, pouring water or putting it in water.
2. Calm the victim and others, thus preventing panic attacks on both sides.
3. Carefully remove the smoldering clothes from the victim, which are not fixed in the wound. It is forbidden to tear off the remains of clothes from the wound. You can not touch the burnt surface with your hands.
4. The victim is best placed in a cool room or in the shade if the burn occurred in the summer on the street. As much as possible, it is necessary to find out the circumstances under which a person was injured.
5. Hold the damaged surface for 15-20 minutes under running cold water - this will help improve blood circulation and will not allow the affected area to increase in size by heating the remaining skin areas( only with 1-2 degree burns).
6. Ice can not be used to cool the burn zone, because, in addition to the existing burn, the victim will have an additional trauma - frostbite.
7. Use an anti-burn agent( eg "Rescuer" or "Panthenol") to apply to the affected area of ​​skin and apply a dry sterile dressing. With extensive burns of the limbs, you can accurately fix them by applying a tire.
8. In case of extensive burns and signs of burn shock( pallor, weakness, anxiety, cold sweats, tachycardia, falling blood pressure, cardiac and respiratory depression) give the victim plenty of fluids - pure water, tea, compote.
9. If the victim complains of pain, then in order to avoid painful shock, you should give him any available painkiller( spasmalgone, analgin, etc.).
10. If a person does not have breathing, first of all you need to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation, for example artificial respiration or indirect heart massage.
11. In case of indications for hospitalization, call an ambulance or deliver the victim to a medical institution.

If all of the above conditions are met, the chances of a favorable outcome for the victim are quite high. However, it must be remembered that even the smallest and minor thermal trauma can provoke severe consequences, including a fatal outcome in the victim.

Thermal burn treatment at home

There are some restrictions on the treatment of thermal burns at home. So, you can not go to the hospital if:

• the degree of thermal burn is light( 1st or 2nd), without damaging the deep layers of the skin;
• burns about 1% of body size - the area is approximately equal to the size of the palm;
• localization of a burn as large as a palm - no face, no foot and no brush;
• burn wound is not inflamed, there are no suppuration and redness of the edges of the wound.

Anti-shock therapy should be adequate to the stage of providing medical care, the severity of the burn shock and the age of the victim. It should include the following activities:

• pain relief;
• replenishment of blood deficit( its components);
• prophylaxis, treatment of hypoxia;
• correction of water-electrolyte, protein metabolism and acid-base balance of blood;
• combating intoxication;
• compensation of energy costs of the body;
• prophylaxis, treatment of cardiac disorders;
• prophylaxis, treatment of acute hepatic renal failure.

Much attention should be paid to the treatment of burns in children, because you need to act not only quickly, but also as safely as possible, accidentally not harming the child. Effective treatment of burns of 3rd and 4th degree in many respects depends on how quickly it is possible to get qualified medical care.

What not to do

• open blisters;
• to seal the wound with plaster;
• treat the wound with cotton wool - only a sterile bandage or gauze swabs;
• touch the wound with hands without sterile gloves;
• impose on the wound any traditional medicine( oil, sour cream, kefir, whipped eggs, alcohol solutions of any healing herbs, etc.).

Burn shock

This is the body's response to an extremely strong pain stimulus. It is based on a thermal trauma, leading to severe disorders of central, regional and peripheral hemodynamics with a predominant disturbance of microcirculation and metabolic processes in the body of the burned;centralization of blood circulation takes place. Long-term painful irritation leads to disruption of the central nervous system, endocrine glands and the activity of all body systems.

Forecast

All burns have a negative effect on the systemic organs of man. How quickly a person will recover after a burn depends on his vastness, degree and age of the patient. Dangerous burns for the elderly after 60 years and small children.

Critical condition if the burn affects all skin, face, genitals, perineum, internal organs. In this situation, people are rarely saved. So, the effect of heat on the skin temperature above 50 degrees leads to the fact that the cells overheat, die, there is protein denaturation, paralysis in the tissue respiration, metabolism is disrupted. Thermal burn - it's dangerous, so you need to take action as soon as possible.