Scalds

[HeronNS]

There seems to have been an outbreak of posts about injuries from scalding. Just to remind everyone, this is what you do in the case of burns, including scalds:

nhs.uk/conditions/burns-and...

[ConventCassie]

Outbreak? Is that because of weakness of hands? (I dropped all my fav coffee travel mugs on the pavement.) Never related till following this group. I noticed in the 1st sentence they said NO BUTTER. (My Mom always said butter & salt - for minor burns). Still use it.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to ConventCassie]

NO BUTTER!!!! And definitely no salt. Especially if the skin is even slightly broken. Or really, anything except cold water immediately until the sting fades (20 mins is not unreasonable). That is to reduce the temperature of the damaged area to try to reduce the damage being done to cells.

[ConventCassie in reply to PMRpro]

I would not do that for 2nd or 3rd degeee Burns. Don’t they have “Old Wives Tales” where you live?

[HeronNS in reply to ConventCassie]

The whole point is to cool down the injured area so that the tissues do not become more injured. Yes, you cool down any burn as soon as you can, even while you are calling the doctor or ambulance. And it's the butter which is the Old Wives Tale. To tell you the truth I'd never heard of putting salt on a burn until this thread and I can't imagine how that ever came to be a thing. OWWWW.😱

Butter I can almost understand, because in the olden days it was likely to be something you kept cold, and you might not have add access to a good supply of clean cold water. But we can do things better now.

[ConventCassie in reply to HeronNS]

I ALWAYS use cold water first (well not always, I had a 2nd degree burn on my entire chest once). I am Whole Foods plant based no oil so I don’t even have butter in my apt.. I didn’t realize this was such a serious group. I’ll be quiet. No lightening up this journey here.

[HeronNS in reply to ConventCassie]

Sorry, guess I was too thick to catch that you were joking.

[Soraya_PMR in reply to ConventCassie]

Prior to diagnosis I was a real clumsy oaf, you wouldn’t believe the amount of crockery I chipped. Weak muscles? Inability to lift arms to normally used shelves? Tiredness? Don’t know the cause. Eventually I moved frequently used items to the work surface which reduced breakages. After starting pred, I knew I was somewhat better as cracks and breaks reduced and I could return items off the work surface back to where they belonged. I still have clumsy days though.

As a kid my parents used butter on burns. Only tiny superficial burns. It kept the air off apparently! But that was after cooling under water. I wouldn’t recommend it. All burns need to be cooled, and with pred skin and risk of infection, medical treatment should be sought if any concerns/blistering/potentially deep.

[HeronNS in reply to Soraya_PMR]

My father was a doctor and I remember him telling me to hold my hand under cold running water or keep affected finger or whatever in a bowl of cold water until I no longer felt any pain. This is what I have always done and taught my children to do. Recently I burnt my finger on a match, and it was quite painful and in a vulnerable place, a fingertip. So I did keep that finger chilled for a long time, although I had to take a few breaks because I was in the middle of cooking a meal. And after some time I realized that there really was no more pain, the fingertip felt normal, and I didn't have any problems, although at first I had been sure it would blister and be inconvenient for at least a couple of days. The protocol described in the article is exactly what was demonstrated on Trust Me I'm a Doctor. Obviously you go to the doctor if the skin has been broken. But in all cases cold running water is recommended as first line treatment. I don't know when this treatment was first widely known, but apparently not when I was at a friend's house for Halloween when I was seven and my costume caught fire on a candle and caused my right arm to be burned extensively. The fire was doused almost instantly, but I remember weeks of having bandages and dressings, and of the entire arm three places still bear scars. My father had thought I'd need skin grafts, but I didn't. Interestingly it continues to heal even to this day, which I find extraordinary. One particularly livid scar which I used to show to children, I was in my thirties, to make them understand what fire can do (be careful of the candles, kiddies) has almost completely faded and would no longer shock anyone. Occasionally the deepest scar starts to itch a little bit, and I know this is more nerve connections happening, as sensation has returned to an area of what had no feeling at all for a long time. The body really is an amazing thing.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Soraya_PMR]

A lot of people say the same thing - I had never dropped stuff, I still have complete sets of things after well over 40 years of marriage, but I dropped more in that few years than in the whole of the rest of my life!!!

[Soraya_PMR in reply to PMRpro]

Weird isn’t it. Or maybe not, but I don’t think it’ll be added to the list of symptoms any time soon.

~ bilateral proximal myalgia

~ raised ESR/CRP

~ chipped crockery >10

[SheffieldJane]

That was thoughtful of you to post Heron. I was nearly the third victim. I fell asleep with a mug of hot tea in my hand and spilled it. Lucky I was well wrapped up.

[Hidden]

It's cuts and oven burns that get me. I always try and just put under cold tap for as long as I can. The thought of butter and salt makes my last burn scar hurt.

[ConventCassie in reply to Hidden]

For very minor burns. And that was the point, no scar with the old fashioned way.