Healing of skin after a burn with boiling water. What to do if your skin is burned by boiling water. For severe burns, call an ambulance


Due to carelessness, many have had to deal with burns from boiling water. This household injury occurs either due to direct contact or exposure to steam. Under any circumstances, it is necessary to know the basic rules of first aid for a burn with boiling water. Injuries of this kind often manifest themselves as rapid redness. skin, as well as blisters with liquid inside. To prevent the burn from leaving a scar in the future, it is important to carry out proper treatment.

Distinctive signs of a boiling water burn

When boiling liquid gets on the skin, the victim feels the following:

  • Appears strong feeling burning.
  • The site of injury begins to actively pulsate.
  • The skin may change color from bright red to pale. It depends on the complexity of the damage.
  • The burning sensation of a burn intensifies even more if you blow on or touch the skin.
  • The damaged area of ​​the body with a 2-3 degree burn becomes covered with blisters.
  • The skin swells a little.
  • Chills appear and the feeling of thirst increases.

With deep injuries, blisters burst and open wounds form, up to injury to the muscle and bone tissue.

Severity

Thermal burn boiling water is classified into 4 degrees depending on the area and depth of tissue damage:

  • Grade 1 is characterized by trauma to the upper surface layers of the epithelium. It manifests itself as pain, redness of the skin and a burning sensation. This injury heals in 2-3 days.
  • In grade 2, the entire superficial layer is affected, so even minor contact with the wound causes severe pain. Thin-walled blisters form and swelling appears. It will take about 2 weeks for the wound to heal completely.
  • Grade 3 severity involves damage to deep tissues. With such damage, blisters with scabs appear, but in severe conditions Wet wounds with pus inside form. Large blisters begin to coalesce into a single bubble.
  • Grade 4 is life-threatening because subcutaneous fat, muscles, bones are traumatized, scabs form, and tissue charring is observed.

The area of ​​the lesion plays a role in all cases important role, since if 30% of the body is affected with a 1-2 degree burn or 10% of the skin with a 3-4 degree burn, there is a danger to the life of the victim.

What to do if you are burned by boiling water: first aid

Everyone should know these rules, since absolutely everyone is at risk of getting burned by boiling water at home.

Treatment of the burn surface with medicated bandages is called closed treatment. This is the method that will be useful for independent actions.

First aid for a burn with hot water or steam should follow the following algorithm:

  1. The first steps are to eliminate direct contact with boiling water (remove scalded clothing if it does not stick to the skin).
  2. Place the affected area under running cold water or in a cold bath for 10-15 minutes. If such conditions do not exist, then apply a cold, damp cloth to the skin for several minutes. As it cools, it must be re-moistened and cooled.
  3. Call ambulance.
  4. Next, a bandage is applied to the skin over the applied anti-burn agent like Panthenol.
  5. To relieve pain at home, the victim is given a painkiller (Ibuprofen, Tempalgin).
  6. All the time until the ambulance arrives, the victim is given lightly salted water.

If Panthenol is not at hand, then an antiseptic like Furacilin or Chlorhexidine will come to the rescue. Wounds are washed with such solutions or simply applied as a sterile dressing. If there are open wounds, then applying any cream or ointment with a greasy texture is contraindicated.

Correct Actions on the first medical care in case of a burn, they enable the victim to recover faster in the future and not have a scar or scar.

How to treat burns from boiling water: restorative therapy

Treatment after a burn with boiling water at home is not effective in all cases. Treatment at home is permitted only if the injury from boiling water is of grade 1-2 severity, and also in the absence of a large area of ​​damage. 3-4 degree burns are treated at a hospital hospital or in a specialized burn department.

Medication methods

If you experience a severe burn from boiling water, do not hesitate to visit a doctor. With deep tissue damage, ointments and creams can only aggravate the condition. If there is redness or small blisters on the skin, then medications For local therapy the following will help:

  • For fast healing use Rescue balm or cream. Apply to the wound 2-3 times a day, apply a sterile napkin over the composition.
  • To reduce pain, relieve swelling and speed up the regeneration process, Panthenol spray or D-Panthenol ointment is suitable.
  • Bepanten ointment is safe for treating children, additionally acts as an antimicrobial agent, and is good for thin-walled blisters.
  • Olazol spray is appropriate to use at any stage of healing. It has an analgesic effect, regenerates tissue in case of injuries from boiling water of 2-3 degrees.
  • Radevit in the form of an ointment actively moisturizes and nourishes the skin, the composition is safe for children and pregnant women.

If there is an extensive burn of the leg with boiling water or the skin on the head or face, then home therapy may be powerless. In such cases, you need to seek help from a doctor.

Physiotherapy

Often, burns that are accompanied by blisters leave scars or welts. Such consequences force people to resort to various physical procedures to smooth out or simply remove defects. This problem is especially relevant for facial burns.


Do not sprinkle starch on burned areas or lubricate them. vegetable oil and cauterize with alcohol, iodine and other tanning substances, as their effect slows down the healing process and enhances painful sensations.

High effectiveness in the treatment of scars has been proven following procedures:

Such techniques, due to their non-aggressive effects on the surface of the skin, help it speed up the recovery process and also dissolve scar compounds.

If the scars after boiling water occupy a large area, then they will help plastic surgeons who will excise excess keloid tissue. Then a thin one is applied cosmetic stitch. In some cases, the skin is restored through skin transplantation.

To speed up the engraftment of new tissue, doctors resort to the following physical procedures:

  • UHF therapy;
  • darsonvalization;
  • magnetic therapy;
  • laser therapy;
  • paraffin applications;
  • phototherapy;
  • ultraviolet irradiation.

If the treatment includes a whole range of measures, the burn will heal quickly.

Folk remedies

If you choose between traditional medicine and official, then it is better to make a choice in favor of modern techniques. Recipes traditional medicine for providing first aid for burns are not always practical, because not everyone will have a decoction of herbs or a compress of raw potatoes. Traditional methods Treatment is best used at the stage of rehabilitation therapy.

Sea buckthorn oil

How can you treat a burn based on your knowledge? traditional healers? There are many such methods, but the best folk remedy for burns with boiling water - a compress of sea buckthorn oil. This recipe is only suitable for treating a wound after removal acute symptoms(that is, at least the next day after contact with boiling water). Applying any oil or rich cream immediately after a burn will cause even more damage to the skin.

For this procedure, you need to take a piece of sterile napkin. Dip the entire area of ​​the fabric in sea buckthorn oil and apply to the disinfected skin. It is better to choose cotton as a fabric rather than gauze or bandage - such materials can separate into threads and get into the wound. Wet wipe secure with a bandage and change as it dries. If the wound is deep, then it is appropriate to irrigate the tissue sea ​​buckthorn oil.

Potato compress

If there is a burn on the hand, then traditional therapy A compress made from raw potatoes is suitable. To prepare, just take 1-2 medium potatoes, rinse and peel well. Grate the prepared vegetable on a fine grater. Place the resulting mixture on the skin and bandage it on top. Keep on the wound for 20 minutes, then rinse under running water and treat with an antiseptic.

Oak bark

A decoction of oak bark can be used as a bactericidal agent. They need to treat the damaged area every time before applying an ointment, spray or compress. To prepare it you need 2 tbsp. oak bark pour 200 ml of water. Place the mixture on the stove and boil for 2-3 minutes. Leave the finished broth for 15-20 minutes, then strain and cool.

What not to do if you are burned by hot water

The affected area after exposure to boiling water requires rapid cooling, so applying fatty creams or oils will provoke even greater heating of the tissues. Forms on the skin thin film, which prevents the local temperature from decreasing.

In order not to harm the victim when burn injury, the following procedures are prohibited:

  1. Apply vegetable oils, fatty creams or ointments to the skin.
  2. Treat the wound with brilliant green, iodine or alcohol.
  3. Do not apply compresses with urine, soda solutions or citric acid.
  4. Puncture any blisters that appear.
  5. Apply the patch.
  6. Apply any fermented milk products, such as sour cream or kefir, to the skin.
  7. You cannot tear off clothes that are stuck, they must be carefully cut off.

Do not panic if you or your household are doused with boiling water. The main thing is to cool the area under running water for 15-20 minutes. If a person does not know how to further help the victim, then during this time they need to call an ambulance.

Possible consequences

If 2-3 degree burns were observed, they may appear deep wounds, and this can cause tissue scarring in the future. If such changes in the skin have formed on open areas of the body, for example, on the face, head, hands, then the person experiences severe psycho-emotional discomfort. Except unstable psychological state, often suffers and physical health. Scar tissue from a major burn often interferes with the normal functionality of the limbs.

High danger also represent infected wounds, because when Not proper treatment there is a risk of developing sepsis.

Our whole life is a daily encounter with dangers, all kinds of risks and problems. Pretend to be a wise minnow and hide from worries outside world in a cozy home is not an option. Many unforeseen situations can happen to us within the walls of our own apartment: at any moment you can accidentally touch a hot iron, spill a cup of coffee on yourself, or burn your hand with steam over a boiling kettle. What to do if you are burned by boiling water? How to provide first aid to a victim in case of injury chemicals? In which cases you need to immediately go to the hospital, and in which burns you can get by with improvised means - we will find out in this article.

First aid for burns

A burn occurs as a result of exposure to high temperatures and immediately turns into open wound, accessible to any microbes. Therefore, the first and most important thing to do is to free the damaged area from clothing and immediately cool the burned area. Ice from the refrigerator will do, snow is very cold water or any frozen product. Thanks to the cold, the pain subsides for a while, as unwanted inflammatory processes in the affected tissues are stopped. After first aid, you need to carefully examine the burn and assess the location of the skin lesion - it depends on the degree of the burn. further actions.


Burn degrees

There are 4 degrees of burn, here they are:

  • I degree - a mild and safe degree, in which only the burn remains upper layer dermis. There is noticeable redness and slight swelling on the skin;
  • II degree - in addition to swelling and redness, blisters with cloudy contents appear on the affected area, and severe pain is observed. With proper treatment and emergency care, no traces of burns or scars remain;
  • III degree - in this case, not only the surface of the skin remains damaged, but also deeper tissues; the burn can affect the muscles and damage them. Blisters with a cloudy liquid inside form on the burned area. Treating a third degree burn is difficult because there is a high risk of infection. Under no circumstances should treatment be carried out at home.
  • IV degree is the most serious and dangerous degree of burn. High temperatures at this stage can damage the bone; skin and muscles may be missing. The most dangerous and difficult areas are the neck, face, inner part arms and hips. Patients tolerate burn injuries to their feet, back and arms (up to the elbow) more easily.

In case of a burn, it is strictly prohibited:

  • lubricate the burn area with vegetable oil, alcohol-containing preparations, iodine, brilliant green;
  • sprinkle with starch;
  • apply ointment for burns and others medical supplies on the hot surface of the skin;
  • apply fermented milk products to the damaged area;
  • pierce or cut through the formed blisters on the skin;
  • independently clean the wound from dirt or remnants of clothing;
  • wash the burn with water with the addition of soda or citric acid;
  • apply a plaster to the burn.

Treatment of first degree burns

In case of a first degree burn, treatment can be easily done at home. As soon as the first urgent Care was provided, the cooled surface of the skin should be lubricated with a medicine that will prevent the burn from spreading into the deep layers of the skin, relieve swelling and pain. These are drugs such as:

  • Panthenol - well restores burned mucous membranes and skin, has regenerative and metabolic effects on damaged tissues. The ointment perfectly relieves burning sensation and relieves pain.
  • Sulfargin - this ointment with silver ions quickly copes with wounds of a wide variety of nature.
  • Levomikol - first lubricate with ointment gauze bandage, then apply it to the burn site. This bandage needs to be changed every 20 hours - the swelling will gradually subside and the pus will be eliminated.
  • Olazol is a spray containing an antiseptic and anesthesin. Thanks to this composition, the drug heals burns faster.

In addition to medicines for lung treatment For first-degree burns, homemade compresses are also suitable:

  • 100 grams of finely grated potatoes should be mixed with a teaspoon of honey. Make a compress on a bandage or gauze and leave on the burn site for 2-3 hours;
  • finely chop the cabbage and mix it with raw egg white, and then lubricate the burn with the resulting mixture;
  • instead of lotions, you can leave cooled black and green tea on the damaged area;
  • cut off a juicy aloe leaf, cut it lengthwise and apply to the burned area for a few minutes;
  • freshly picked plantain leaves should be washed with boiling water, cooled and applied to the affected area of ​​the skin;
  • Place finely grated carrots on gauze or bandage and apply to the burn. The compress should be changed every 2-3 hours.

Treatment of second degree burns

This stage is already considered a fairly serious injury, so assistance is provided first at a trauma center, and then at home. The doctor carefully treats the wound, performing the following algorithm:

  • anesthesia of the affected area;
  • antiseptic treatment healthy skin next to the burn;
  • removing dead skin, dirt and clothing;
  • carefully removing the contents of burn blisters with a sterilized instrument. The membrane of the bladder remains intact to protect the wound from bacteria and infections;
  • applying a bandage with a special bactericidal ointment to the wound.

Burns of III and IV degrees

The first rule for third and fourth degree burns is no self-medication! Severe burns must be treated in a hospital. There the doctor first carries out anti-shock therapy, surgery(if it is necessary to remove dead tissue and perform a skin graft operation), and then treatment in a hospital.


What to do for burns from boiling water

  • Get rid of clothing that is at the burn site as soon as possible.
  • Inspect the affected area and determine the extent of damage.
  • For a 1st or 2nd degree burn, apply ice or cold compress, change the compress after a few minutes.
  • If the burn is severe, go to the hospital immediately.

What to do for steam burns

  • Remove clothing blocking access to the affected area of ​​skin.
  • Cool the burned surface.
  • If the burn is on your hand, it should be kept elevated.
  • If damage is more than 5%, go to the emergency room.

What to do for oil burns

  • Cool the damaged area under running cold water.
  • Apply a sterile, damp bandage to the burn site.
  • If the burn is more than 1% (the palm makes up 1% of the whole body), call a doctor.

What to do for chemical burns

  • Call an ambulance.
  • Remove clothing from the affected area.
  • Cool the burn area under running ice water.
  • If the burn is caused by sulfuric acid, it must first be removed from the surface of the skin with a dry cloth.
  • And if the burn is caused by quicklime, cold water will have the opposite effect! In this case, you need to remove the reagent from the affected area with a dry cloth, and then lubricate the burn with oil or greasy ointment.

A burn with hot liquid (boiling water) is one of the types thermal damage human skin and mucous membranes, which is associated with traumatic influence high temperature water and steam. In everyday life, this type of injury occurs most often, and it is for this reason that people often lose their ability to work.

Getting a burn from boiling water can occur after a hot liquid is spilled on the body, when a limb is accidentally placed in a vessel with boiling water, or when open areas of the body come under hot steam.

Most burns from boiling water proceed more or less calmly and do not provoke any serious complications. Much depends on the scale and depth of skin trauma, which in turn depend on a number of specific conditions:

  1. The temperature of the liquid and its type - ordinary boiling water (clean heated water) causes much less harm than a burn from hot syrup.
  2. The amount of boiling water that gets on the body.
  3. The speed and pressure of contact of liquid with skin.
  4. Time of exposure of boiling water to the skin.
  5. Features of the skin that affect contact with high temperatures.

You can notice a clear connection in the mechanisms of burns. The higher the temperature and the amount of time that boiling water comes into contact with the skin, the more severe the injury and its consequences. Taking these data into account, it is possible to determine the volume of necessary therapeutic measures that need to be provided to the victim.

According to statistics, people more often suffer from burns from boiling water upper limbs(especially the hands), a little less common are troubles and feet, and very rarely scalded bellies and chests. Small affected areas, fortunately, are much more common than large ones.

Considering the degree and intensity of damage from burns with boiling water, one can understand that there are no special features here. The distribution, which includes 4 degrees, is quite simple and convenient. The first stage is characterized by the formation of hyperemic areas. During the second, blisters with liquid appear. The third stage occurs with a pronounced wound surface or moderate bleeding. In patients with the fourth degree, the entire thickness of the skin and tissues that lie deeper are affected (but after exposure to boiling water, this stage is practically not diagnosed).

First aid

Treatment at home

After providing first aid, you can begin to treat the burn itself. Not all families have special anti-burn medications in their first aid kits. In principle, there is no need to keep them at home; burns occur extremely rarely; moreover, they are not cheap and have a limited shelf life.

TO effective drugs against burns from boiling water include:

  1. Panthenol is probably the most famous and best remedy that can have a quick restorative effect on burn-damaged skin. Thanks to its action, you can get rid of pain and burning for a long time.
  2. Sulfargin - belongs to the list of more modern anti-burn drugs. Sulfargin contains silver ions, which allow you to quickly and painlessly eliminate the wound.
  3. Levomekol is an antibiotic-based ointment that is applied to gauze and applied to the wound. The compress is changed every 20 hours. During this time, the drug copes well with swelling and eliminates pus.
  4. Olazol – spray antiseptic action with anesthetic components. Thanks to the drug, you can quickly get rid of undesirable consequences burns.
  5. Polimedel is a polymer film intended for the treatment of burns by accelerating the regeneration processes of affected tissues. After use, the product activates physiological processes in the affected area.
  6. – a drug in the form of a gel that enhances the restorative abilities of tissues. In addition, it slightly dries the wound, stimulates the processes of metabolism and tissue regeneration.

Of course, it’s good to have medications on hand, but more often than not, victims have to use what they have at home. If you self-medicate at home and use vegetables or fruits for these purposes, it is important to choose those products that have an alkalizing effect. To the most famous, and at the same time simple ways relate:

  • Fresh carrots, rutabaga and pumpkin are grated on a fine grater or placed in a blender until a homogeneous paste is formed. The resulting mixture is spread on a piece of cloth and placed on the area burned with boiling water for 1.5 - 2 hours.
  • The above-mentioned vegetable mush is mixed with honey (in a 1:1 ratio) to form a paste, and applied to hyperemic skin or swollen blisters.

You can apply to the burn site:

  • Cabbage leaves, which were previously served with a hammer or rolling pin.
  • Peeled banana slices, cut half a centimeter thick.
  • Cut apple pieces, without peel.

If a person burns his tongue or palate, which often happens when drinking tea or coffee that is too hot, he can eliminate pain syndrome and speed up the healing process with any alkalizing product by holding it in your mouth.

Has a good effect ginger tea. To prepare it, just grate a little ginger root, equal to one tablespoon per glass of water, throw it into boiling water and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. You can simply dissolve in hot water ginger powder (1 teaspoon per 1 glass of water). You can drink 2 glasses of tea a day, adding honey and a slice of lemon. It will help you quickly cope with the consequences of a burn, due to its strong healing, antiseptic and tonic effect.

During treatment, it is advised to exclude all acidic foods:

  • Beer and any other soda.
  • Fermented milk products and milk itself.
  • Chocolate, cocoa and coffee.
  • Meat.
  • Potatoes and rice.
  • White flour products.

What not to do after a burn with boiling water

Once in stressful situation, people can make the wrong decision, relying on various arguments from acquaintances or relatives who are far from medicine. To avoid mistakes, you need to know the list of prohibited actions that cannot be done after a burn:

  1. It is forbidden to apply medications to hot skin.
  2. Under no circumstances should burns be treated with irritating agents such as iodine, brilliant green or toothpaste. They will not help, but will only worsen an already difficult situation.
  3. Some people still think that burns need to be put on oil. This is a misconception, because oils block the access of oxygen to the wound. They may be useful, but only in the last stages of treatment, when you need to soften the skin.
  4. It is contraindicated to puncture blisters and squeeze out their contents, as these actions are highly likely to lead to infection.
  5. Rinsing the burn with water containing citric acid or soda is simply useless. There is a myth that in this way you can disinfect the wound, but in the end, the victim will only achieve complications and the formation of rough scar tissue at the site of injury.
  6. Lubricate the skin fermented milk products(sour cream, yogurt, kefir, etc.). Some people think that these methods will cope with a burn better than many others. pharmaceutical drugs, but this opinion is a mistake. The acid that is present in fermented milk products will cause additional harm and provoke infection.
  7. Do not apply a plaster to a burn.

When is the best time to go to the doctor?

Most people do not consider burns to be serious injuries, although they can cause severe complications. In fact, the likelihood of infection getting through the wound and developing inflammatory process at the burn site is very high, and this threatens the formation of scars.

A mandatory visit to the doctor is necessary if the burn is on the skin of the face. Also, the burn should be shown to a specialist if the liquid inside the blister has become cloudy or red, or the surface of the blister remains tense even several days after the injury.

For high-quality opening of the bladder and treatment of wounds, it is better to contact a surgeon. Special attention burns from boiling water in children require, even if they do not look serious, it is better to show the baby to the doctor. The thing is that children develop complications in the form of bacterial infection or inflammation much faster.

Every person has suffered a domestic injury at least once in their life. One of the most common injuries, especially among children, is hot water burns. When such a situation happens to a child, parents may panic and make mistakes in providing assistance. Therefore, everyone should clearly know what to do in case of a burn with boiling water.

To correctly diagnose and prescribe effective treatment, doctors need to determine the extent of the lesion, indicate its location and extent. For this purpose, several classifications of burn wounds have been developed.

By degree

This division makes it possible to determine the extent of skin and tissue damage in depth. There are 4 types of burns:

  1. The first one is the easiest. The upper layers of epithelial cells are damaged. Visually characterized by redness and a burning sensation, especially in the first minutes after exposure to hot water.
  2. The second is determined by the destruction of epidermal tissue and involvement in pathological process next layer of skin (dermis). With such damage, blisters often form containing inside serous fluid. Due to the fact that the germ layer of the skin does not suffer, it remains possible restoration epidermal tissues.
  3. The third is an even deeper burn with boiling water, in which all layers of the epidermis and dermis are affected, and the process involves subcutaneous tissue. These tissues become necrotic, the nerve endings in them die, as a result of which they become insensitive to external influences. Intense pain is felt around the perimeter of the injury.
  4. The fourth is the most severe morphologically (tissue necrosis reaching almost to the bones) and clinically ( pain shock). Hot water It is usually impossible to get such a burn.

By prevalence

To determine the area of ​​the burn lesion as a percentage, several simple methods are used:

  1. “Rule of nines”: approximately 9% of the total skin area falls on the head and neck, 1 arm, 1 thigh, 1 lower leg with foot, chest and abdomen, 18% on the back, 1% on the perineum and external genitalia. This method is used for common burns.
  2. “Palm rule”: the skin on one palm surface of the victim is approximately 1% of the entire skin of his body.

Considering these classifications, you need to remember that 3rd and 4th degree burns, damage to more than 5% of the body, as well as wounds with signs of infection are treated only in a hospital.

Treatment at home

If you receive any burn, you should consult with a specialist about how and what is allowed to treat the victim. If the damage is superficial and affects a small area, then you can recover at home.

First aid

In order to alleviate the condition of the victim, in the first moments after receiving a burn, first aid must be provided in compliance with several rules:

What not to do

To prevent the development of complications in early recovery period(wound infection, pain shock) at the first aid stage it is not recommended to do the following:

  • Puncture any blisters that form.
  • Tear off clothing stuck to the wound surface.
  • Apply oil and other fat-containing substances to the burn, since heat is retained under the film of fat and its negative effect on the tissue continues.
  • Keep the limb under ice water or apply pieces of ice to the burn site, as a sharp temperature contrast will worsen the condition of the epidermal cells and accelerate their death.
  • Use iodine, brilliant green, or any alcohol-containing products to treat the wound from bacteria. They increase pain, and the dyes will prevent the doctor from correctly assessing the condition of the skin at the burn site.

Recovery at home

The skin has good regenerative ability. Minor 1st and 2nd degree burns with adequate treatment heal without scarring on the skin. Drugs that promote rapid recovery:

  • Solcoseryl;
  • Panthenol;
  • Sulfargin;
  • Levomekol;
  • Olazol.

Unconventional methods

Most often, to accelerate tissue regeneration, reduce inflammation and pain at home, traditional medicine from the following materials is used:


At correct use traditional methods treatments are safe and effective. They help cure most 1st-2nd degree boiling water burns. Light burns heal with their help within 1-1.5 weeks, treatment of 2nd degree lesions usually lasts up to 2-3 weeks. For grade 3 injuries, the feasibility and safety of using such treatment methods must be agreed with a doctor.

None of us are immune from such household injury as a burn with boiling water. At such moments, most people begin to panic: they don’t know what to do, where to run or how to help the victim. You should get your bearings and calmly, without worry, provide first aid. It is very important. After all, how deeply the burn will spread and what area of ​​skin it will affect depends on how correctly and timely the assistance was provided.

What do people begin to do at the level of instinct? They run to the bath and expose the affected area to running water. Of course, it is better not to use running tap water, but to pour water into a bucket and use it. Two things should be taken into account the most important moments:

  • use cool water, but in no case cold, otherwise you can cause shock due to sudden hypothermia by such actions;
  • While the affected area of ​​skin is in the water, try to assess the degree of the burn.

How to correctly assess the extent of the burn surface?

The following features are typical for a first-degree boiling water burn:

With the second degree, the characteristics change slightly:

  • the burn is also superficial, but a little deeper;
  • the bubbles are tense or have already burst;
  • swelling;
  • redness;
  • a thin scab is formed.

For the correctness of further measures to provide assistance, the degree of damage should be correctly assessed

As for the third degree, the burn has the following features:

  • the burn surface is so deep that it reaches the muscle fibers;
  • small blisters have already burst;
  • the presence of a dry crust.

The most severe, fourth degree, is characterized by the following symptoms:

  • defeat comes to skeletal system;
  • necrosis of surface tissue occurs;
  • fabrics become charred and blackened.

If we talk about the first and second degrees of severity, then, as can be seen from clinical picture, this is not so scary, so you can treat a burn at these stages at home.

The main point is that the burn surface area should be no more than one percent, which roughly corresponds to the size of a human palm.

Even in the first and second stages, if the lesion has affected the bone, face, genitals, then it is better not to self-medicate, but to consult a doctor. The fact is that the scarring process may be associated with the occurrence of certain problems.


If a child is burned by boiling water, you should consult a doctor, regardless of the degree of the burn.

In case of third and fourth degree - serious injuries - you should immediately call an ambulance. The danger is posed by a burn of more than five percent; in this case, the risk of developing burn disease increases, a condition in which shock occurs and the functioning of the entire body is disrupted.

Regarding the specifics of treating young children, it is important to understand that children's body may react to trauma individually and sometimes very unpredictably. There is a very high risk of complications, so it is better not to experiment, but to seek qualified help.

What further actions should be taken?

The main objectives of further measures include the following:

  • cooling the burn surface;
  • prevention of possible infection;
  • anesthesia.


Don't just wait for the ambulance to arrive, you need to act quickly

If you wash the burn surface with soap and water, this will be a good prevention of possible infection. Cooling can be continued by applying moistened water to the affected area of ​​skin. cold water napkin.

To relieve pain, you can give some analgesic drug, to reduce swelling you will need to use antihistamines. It is worth understanding that through the wound surface the body loses a large number of fluids, so the victim should drink plenty of plain water.

How to properly treat a burn with boiling water?

There are two methods to properly treat a burn with boiling water, namely:

  • open,
  • closed.

The open method does not involve applying a bandage, while the closed method involves the use of a bandage.

Although public method is more productive, but it is associated with risks of infection.

A specialist should determine the methods, but at first, bandages are always used to prevent infection.

The burn surface is treated with an antiseptic solution, a sterile napkin is applied, and then a bandage is applied.


Antiseptic agents for lubricating the affected surface can be in the form of a solution, gel or aerosol

Choose antiseptics that, in addition to their main action, have other properties:

  • analgesic effect;
  • regenerating features;
  • reducing weeping;
  • antibacterial properties.

Subsequently, when the damaged area stops oozing, it can be treated with fat-based ointments. This is effective, since at this stage it is necessary to accelerate the processes of epithelization and elastic scar tissue should form.

As you can see, in order to cure a burn with boiling water, a whole range of measures are needed, which are carried out in stages. But what mistakes are made when providing assistance and what should never be done?

What should you not do?

Let's talk about common mistakes that you should avoid:

  • After a burn, immediately lubricate the affected area with animal fats or plant origin. The fact is that fats help retain heat in the wound. Moreover, fats are a beneficial environment for development infectious process;
  • treating the affected surface with irritants antiseptics, namely: alcohol, iodine, potassium permanganate, etc. The use of these agents causes severe pain, due to which it will be difficult for a specialist to assess the extent of the burn surface;
  • Apply ice to the wound without wrapping it in cloth. This will worsen the situation, adding frostbite to the burn.


The resulting blisters are a protective film that prevents infection, so you should not pierce them yourself

Features of treatment at home

I would like to immediately note that many people simply do not know how to properly treat burns on their own at home, so as a result of this, best case scenario such measures will not yield results, and at worst, will lead to the development of serious complications.

Treatment at home is possible if you follow these two steps: important conditions:

  • superficial minor burns;
  • absence of symptoms indicating secondary infection: red swollen edges, purulent discharge from a wound, chills, fever, etc.

For local treatment burn surface of the house you need to have the following things:

  • sterile bandage;
  • antiseptic solution for hand treatment;
  • medical gloves;
  • peroxide, iodine, brilliant green;
  • cotton buds;
  • gauze swabs;
  • medical elastic mesh.


Do not touch the burned surface with your hands

Let's talk about the basic principles home treatment burns from boiling water:

  • the dressing material must be exclusively sterile;
  • the use of gel forms of drugs in the first stages of treatment promotes better granulation;
  • when the wound surface dries out, you can use ointment forms of preparations, this will contribute to the formation of a protective film;
  • as a local treatment of the damaged surface, emphasis should be placed on those medicines, which promote restoration processes and also accelerate healing processes.

So, each of us can get burned by boiling water. In such situations, do not panic; act quickly, but carefully and competently. Do not waste precious minutes of time and provide first aid to the victim before the doctors arrive. Consulting a doctor is the key to your health!