The most common household injury is a hand burn. Most often, children suffer from burns. The reason for this can be both the carelessness of the kids themselves, and the inattention of the parents. Therefore, adults should be guided in the principles of first aid for getting burns, which will help in time to relieve suffering for themselves and loved ones.
Signs of a burn
There are a number of symptoms, the presence of which indicates injury from a burn. Here it is worth highlighting:
- the presence of increasing, prolonged pain with redness of the skin;
- the appearance on the skin of blisters with a yellowish or transparent content;
- the formation of wounds, necrosis, lesions of the deep layers of the skin and tissues.
Sunburn
You can get a burn on your hand or other parts of the body with prolonged exposure to the open sun. For some people with especially delicate, sensitive skin, to get a sunburn it is enough to spend about half an hour under the scorching rays.
The main danger of sunburn is that a person does not immediately feel their presence by touch or visually. Unpleasant symptoms occur on sunburned skin after only a few hours. Therefore, with prolonged exposure to open space, it is advisable to cover sensitive skin from exposure to direct sunlight, especially for babies. Moreover, do not rely on sun protection by applying special creams and lotions to the skin.
Chemical burn
A chemical burn of hands, feet, other parts of the body is an extremely dangerous tissue lesion. Depending on the nature of the chemical substance, its properties, affected area, strength, duration of exposure, this or that visual or pain symptom may occur.
In the arsenal of modern housewives there is always a sufficient number of potentially dangerous chemicals that can cause burns. Therefore, it is highly recommended to store household chemicals out of the reach of children. However, if the baby was able to gain access to a hazardous chemical, you need to know how to provide first aid to the baby, which will be discussed later.
Acid burn
Exposure of acids to tissues usually causes severe burns to the hands or other areas of the body. A striking symptom of such a burn is severe, unbearable pain. Often, when a chemical burn occurs with acid at the site of the lesion, a site of dead skin is quickly formed.
To determine the acid, the defeat of which led to a burn, it is enough to pay attention to the following symptoms:
- the skin becomes blackish or dark gray - the effect of sulfuric acid ;
- bright orange or yellow skin color - damage with nitric acid;
- gray skin tone - burn with hydrochloric acid;
- greenish skin tone - carbolic or acetic acid.
As for first aid when getting a burn with acids, in this case it is necessary, first of all, to immediately rinse the affected area with running water. Moreover, the procedure should be carried out for 10-15 minutes to reduce pain. Next, a sterile gauze dressing is applied to the affected area. For the most serious, extensive acid burns, you must immediately contact the emergency department.
Alkali burn
A burn of the fingers, other parts of the skin with alkalis, in the same way as in the case of acids, causes severe pain. An alkaline burn can be recognized by moist swollen tissues covered with an uneven light crust. Often with an alkali burn, along with visual and pain signs, an increasing headache, poisoning of the body, attacks of nausea are observed.
The first aid for alkali burns is an abundant, prolonged washing of the lesion under running water. A napkin or a cotton-gauze dressing soaked in non-concentrated boric acid or table vinegar must be applied to the burn site . In this case, it is mandatory to transport the victim to the nearest emergency room.
If burns result from fire
When a burn to your arms, legs, or torso is caused by fire on your clothing, you must immediately extinguish any flaming or smoldering tissue particles. To do this, a blanket, coat, cloak or any other dense matter that can cover the main part of the body is attacked by the victim. In this case, it is desirable that the head remains open. Otherwise, the victim may additionally receive poisoning from combustion products or a burn of the respiratory tract.
If possible, extinguish flammable clothing with water. Charred tissue must be removed or cut so as not to damage the burned skin. After completing the above steps, you must urgently contact the ambulance service.
Thermal burn
If the victim has knocked over a boiling liquid, grabbed a hot object or landed in a fire, the main thing is not to panic, but to act quickly and clearly. First-aid measures do not delay, especially when delicate skin is injured, for example, a hand burn is received.
First aid for thermal burn involves:
- Elimination of indirect or direct contact with a boiling liquid, a hot object. It is also necessary to prevent any hot objects (bracelets, rings, clothes) from contacting the skin.
- Creating conditions to reduce the temperature of the damaged area of the skin using cold water, ice, etc. Overheated tissues are able to maintain high temperature for a long time after a burn, aggravating the nature of the injury. The cooling process of the affected tissues should last at least half an hour. When the effect of severe burning appears, the procedure should be repeated.
- The application of a sterile restrictive dressing to burnt skin. If a hand burn is obtained with boiling water, a dry or wet-drying dressing may be applied to the relief of unpleasant symptoms, as well as a damp or ointment-soaked cloth. At the first aid stage, it is not recommended to spend precious time looking for special medicines to reduce symptoms and treat burns. On the contrary, you must immediately use the first suitable tool, which turned out to be in the medicine cabinet. An effective option may be to apply a sterile dressing soaked in a solution with antiseptic properties.
- For the most serious burns that have affected the deeper layers of the tissues, it is recommended to use injections or internal preparations with a pronounced analgesic effect.
Degree of burns
If a hand burn is received, what should I do? First of all, it is necessary to try quickly, and most importantly - correctly, to assess the complexity and nature of the damage. To understand how to provide first aid and treat burns, you need to know that there are 4 separate degrees of burns:
- The first degree is characterized by the appearance of noticeable redness, slight swelling of the tissues at the site of the lesion.
- The second degree is characterized by the presence of opened or strained watery blisters, as well as the first signs of the formation of dead skin.
- The third degree is a serious damage not only to the surface of the skin, but also to deeper tissues, up to muscle mass. It is characterized by the presence of a pronounced scab. Often, upon receipt of such burns, fluid bubbles abundantly cover areas of the body around the lesion.
- The fourth degree is the most severe, deep tissue damage, often to the bone tissue. Such injuries are often accompanied by carbonization of the burned surface.
You should be aware that in cases where a hand burn is obtained in a child, a severe shock condition, the so-called burn disease, can occur. Often this phenomenon is observed with a lesion of more than 10% of the total body area in case of burns of the first or second degree and injuries of more than 5% of the area with serious burns of the third or fourth degree. The appearance of signs of a severe shock condition in the victim requires emergency medical attention and further qualified treatment in a hospital.
Burn area
The larger the area of the tissue that was thermally exposed, the greater the likelihood of serious injury. Even a short-term exposure to boiling water on the surface of the skin entails serious consequences if an impressive area is burned.
The reason for seeking help from a specialist should be burns, the diameter of which is more than 3 cm. In general, the danger must be assessed in accordance with the so-called nine rule. Any victim who has burned over 9% of the skin surface needs urgent hospitalization.
When should I see a doctor?
Doctor consultation required:
- when the child received only a small burn of the hand, which caused the appearance of a noticeable, persistent redness;
- if the burn is deep and extensive;
- with burns, starting from the second and third degree;
- if injury is caused by fire of clothing or in a fire.
Preparations
There are a number of priority medications that can relieve the unpleasant effects of burns and eliminate the problem. If you get a small hand burn, what should I do? In this case, the Solcoseryl gel can become the most effective means at the stage of first aid. This drug improves oxygen supply to damaged tissues, activates collagen production, accelerates wound healing, stimulates cell renewal and nourishes the skin.
First aid in cases where a hand burn or other minor injury due to thermal exposure was received, first of all, is to relieve pain. Currently, Analgin, Ibuprofen, Ketorolac, Spazmalgon, Citramon, and Paracetamol are widely used as effective painkillers.
After anesthesia, the affected tissue is necessarily bound. For this, sterile gauze dressings are often treated with Diosept or Combixin, which are indicated for use in burn injuries of varying severity and localization.
At the treatment stage, Linkocel gel, Povidone-iodine gel, Procelon ointment, which are used to treat sterile dressings or wipes, can be used. These funds are widely available and dispensed without a prescription.