How to treat a burn from plants, first aid

In the summer, there is a danger not only to sunbathe in the sun, but also to get a burn from the plant. Only about 2% of herbs possess such properties, however they are widespread, and anyone can meet them in a forest or meadow. Their leaves and stems contain irritating substances that can increase the sensitivity of the skin to ultraviolet light. There is redness, pain, sometimes blisters form. Being in the sun only enhances these manifestations. In addition to the well-known nettles, there are other types of plants that leave burns.

Hogweed

This is a tall plant (up to 3-4 m) with a powerful stem and inflorescences in the form of umbrellas with small white flowers. It looks like dill. Not all types of this herb have burning properties. The danger is represented by the hogweed of Sosnovsky. It was once grown for silage. But after the poisonous properties of the plant were discovered, they refused to cultivate this herb. Hogweed began to mow, but by that time he had already seized vast territories. You can meet this grass everywhere.

The horseness of the cow parsnip is associated with the presence in its juice of a toxic substance - furanocoumarin. Contact with any part of the plant causes a severe burn. Hogweed alkaloid causes photosensitivity of the skin. It is enough to touch this grass, and then spend some time in the sun, as the skin begins to redden, swell, and then become covered with bubbles. These symptoms do not occur immediately, but after 1-1.5 hours. For this reason, first aid is not always on time. As a result, a serious burn of the 2nd degree may occur.

To know what it looks like, carefully look at the above photo of the plant. How to treat burns from hogweed? After contact with its parts, you must take the following actions:

1. Go to a shady place.
2. Do not touch other parts of the body and mucous membranes with your hands; otherwise, burning juice can spread throughout the body.
3. Wash the burned area with running water with soap or baking soda. Keep your hands under the stream for as long as possible, up to 30 minutes.
4. If bubbles appear, it is better to wash the burn site with a solution of furatsilina or potassium permanganate.
5. The skin should not be rubbed with a towel, you need to get it wet with a clean cloth or handkerchief.
6. Apply ointment for burns: “Panthenol”, “Olazol”, “Zinc ointment”. If there are no medicines at hand, then you should use traditional medicine recipes. You can lubricate the affected area with egg white or lavender oil, as well as apply lotion with a decoction of oak bark. Treatment with ointments and home remedies should be continued until the signs of inflammation disappear.
7. Apply a gauze bandage to the affected area to protect the burn from exposure to sunlight.
8. Furanocoumarin often causes an allergic reaction, so you should take a tablet of an antihistamine: Claritin, Zodaka, Suprastin. Drugs should be taken in the first 2-3 days after a burn, 1 tablet per day for prevention. It is also useful to drink a few tablets of activated carbon, this will help remove toxins from the body.
9. If you are worried about the pain from a burn, then you can take an analgesic: "Nurofen", "Ibuprofen."
10. For several days you need to avoid the sun.
11. With a large burn from the plant (more than 10% of the body area) or with the ingestion of hogweed juice on the mucous membranes, it is necessary to seek medical help.

If bubbles have formed on the skin, then they should never be punctured. Do not apply sour cream, petroleum jelly and compresses with urine. Treating a burn with a plant is different from helping with skin lesions with boiling water or a hot object.

Nettle

This useful and vitamin-rich plant has the unpleasant property of burning skin. Its villi contain caustic formic acid and histamine, a substance that causes an allergic reaction. The affected area turns red, swells and becomes covered with pimples. A burn from a plant usually goes away on its own and does not lead to negative health consequences. Some doctors even believe that the irritating effect of nettle is good for the body. Contact with villi leads to improved blood circulation in the skin, these properties can be used in the prevention of arthritis, varicose veins, rheumatism.

However, if a person suffers from an allergy, then a nettle burn can be dangerous, since the plant contains histamine. Therefore, in contact with the villi, the following measures should be taken:

1. Rinse the burned area with cold water. You can attach ice to the lesion.
2. Grease the burn with Menovazin gel or Enterosgel gel.
3. Take inside a tablet of an antiallergic drug: Suprastin, Tavegil or Diazolin.
4. You can use traditional medicine. For example, apply a washed sheet of plantain, sorrel to a burn or rinse a sore spot with a solution of baking soda.
5. If there is shortness of breath, weakness, fever, then you need to visit a doctor. Such symptoms are rare and usually occur in allergy sufferers and in children.

Fraxinella

This plant with beautiful pink flowers is otherwise called the burning bush. It grows in the Caucasus and in the Crimea. This is an extremely dangerous grass that tourists may encounter while relaxing in the south.

Ash tree is a plant that causes burns. Skin lesions can be severe; after healing, scars and spots remain that last 1-2 years. There were cases when, after contact with this plant, people found themselves in a hospital.

Ash tree contains caustic essential oils. The danger is represented by flowers and seed boxes. The first time after touching a plant, a person does not feel pain. After about 12-24 hours, blisters form on the skin that burst and leave deep ulcers. A strong weakness occurs, the temperature rises. Damage to the skin with ash juice resembles a severe chemical burn. If large areas of the body are affected, then this can be life threatening. Plant alkaloids affect the body as substances of a skin-boiling effect.

First aid is the same as with a burn with a hogweed. It is necessary to protect the affected area from exposure to the sun, since ash essential oils also enhance the photosensitivity of the skin. If a plant burns, you need to see a doctor, since the alkaloids of this herb can cause not only a local reaction, but also general poisoning of the body.

Buttercup

It is no coincidence that this plant is called "caustic buttercup." Its juice is poisonous. If alkaloids get into the body, poisoning occurs, and when the skin comes in contact with this yellow flower, irritation and burns appear. This is due to the fact that buttercup contains protoanemonin, which has a cauterizing effect. If this substance gets into the eyes, then there is a visual impairment. Therefore, buttercup is popularly called "night blindness."

Burns by poisonous plants of the ranunculus family are treated in the same way as nettle and hogweed. It is necessary to rinse the affected area, grease with an anti-burn agent and take an antihistamine.

Open chamber

This plant also belongs to the ranunculaceae family, its popular name is dream grass. It is hard not to notice, it attracts attention with its bright blue flowers. Sleep grass grows in meadows and forests, sometimes it is grown in flower beds as a decorative flower. Open chamber refers to healing herbs, but has burning properties. Therefore, it is recommended to collect this herb for treatment with gloves. Otherwise, you can not avoid a burn, which manifests itself in irritation and redness of the skin with the formation of vesicles. This is due to the presence of protoanemonin in the plant, which is also present in caustic buttercup.

Larkspur

This is another poisonous member of the buttercup family. Another name for the plant is delphinium. When it comes into contact with the skin, the juice of the plant causes an allergic reaction like hives, accompanied by itching, redness and burning. Larkspur is often grown in flower beds. When working with the plant, gloves must be worn. Often, children pluck beautiful blue flowers and get burns. All parts of the plant are toxic. Even honey collected by bees from their stomachs can cause poisoning. The treatment for skin lesions is the same as for burns by poisonous plants of other species of the buttercup family.

Parsnip

A cultivated garden parsnip is not dangerous. But its wild meadow congener can cause the same burns as hogweed. It is very easy to meet with him, walking through the meadow, this plant forms small groups among other herbs, and does not stand out. A burn is characterized by an increase in the photosensitivity of the skin, so you need to bandage the affected area and avoid exposure to the sun. Therefore, when you meet a tall umbrella plant with yellow flowers in the meadow, you should avoid contact with this grass.

Celandine

This plant is known as a medicinal herb. However, its juice contains toxic substances that, on contact with the skin, cause redness, itching and irritation. It is the cauterizing properties of this herb that are used in the treatment of papillomas and warts.

Especially dangerous is the ingress of celandine juice into the eyes. This can cause severe damage to the sclera. It is necessary to rinse your eyes with running water for at least 10 minutes, and then seek medical help. Your doctor will prescribe local ointments or painkillers.

What can not be done with plants burn?

If the juice of a poisonous plant gets on the skin, then you need to take the following actions:

1. Try not to touch other parts of the body with your hands, especially the eyes and mucous membranes.
2. Rinse the affected area with cold water, apply ice to the burn.
3. Apply anti-burn ointment.
4. Take an antihistamine.
5. If there is a burn with hogweed, ash, parsnip, it is necessary to apply a bandage and avoid exposure to sunlight for several days.
6. If the juice gets into your eyes, then before treating burns from plants, you need to rinse the affected area for a long time. Then urgently need to see a doctor. Dealing with damage to the sclera on its own will be very difficult. Such burns can lead to loss of vision.

When the skin is affected by the juice of plants, it is not recommended:

1. Open blisters with a burn of the 2nd degree.
2. Apply clay and earth to the skin.
3. Make compresses with urine.
4. Treat the affected area with milk, butter and other fats.

To avoid a burn, you need to know how dangerous plants look. Many of these herbs can not only cause skin lesions, but are also poisonous when their juice gets inside. If not only a skin burn occurs, but also general poisoning of the body, you should immediately seek medical help.