Introduction to Burns
Burns can be described as an injury to the skin or other tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or radiation. It can be painful and prone to develop the infection if left untreated. Most burns occur accidentally due to hot liquids, steam, and fire. There are different types of burns. Thereby, the treatment to be provided by the healthcare doctor depends on the severity of a burn including its depth and amount of affected skin.
Depending on the effect of burns on the skin, the burn can be categorized into four types. Here they are as follows:
Classification of Burns
These categories of burns are known as “degrees”. The higher the degree, the more severe the burn is.
- Superficial (First Degree) Burns - In first-degree burns, only the epidermis or outer layer of the skin gets affected. The burn is red, painful, and dry with no blisters. For example, mild sunburn, or hot liquid burns, etc.
- Superficial (Second Degree) Burns -This type of burn affects the outer as well as the lower layer of the skin ie both epidermis & dermis. The burn is red, swollen, and may look shiny and wet. In the case of blisters, they can be extremely painful to touch.
- Superficial Partial Thickness - If a person has a superficial partial thickness, only part of the dermis is damaged. The burns may have large blisters, edema, and pain. A wet, and shiny surface can lead to scarring but it may fade with time.
- Deep Partial Thickness Burn - This type of burn is more severe. The patient may be left with a scar or a permanent change in skin color.
Full-thickness (Third-degree) Burns - This type of burn damages the two full layers of the skin and the burn looks black, brown, white, or yellow in appearance.
Fourth Degree Burns - This is the most severe type of burn and can be life-threatening. It damages all the layers of the skin as well as bones, muscles, and tendons.
Causes of Burns
Several factors can lead to burns but open flames are one of the most common causes. Other causes include the following:
- Friction - When the skin gets hardy rubbed against an object, it can cause a “friction burn”. Examples include accidents from motorbikes etc.
- Cold - Also known as “frostbite,” cold burn occurs when the skin gets severely damaged due to getting extremely frozen. This frostbite can develop in the patient by being outside in freezing temperatures. It can also occur when the body comes into direct contact with something cold for a long period.
- Thermal - When a part of the body comes into direct contact with something extremely hot that leads to damaged cells, it is a sign of thermal burn. For example, too hot metals, scalding liquids, and flames, etc. They all can cause burns.
- Radiation - Sunburn is the perfect example of a radiation burn. Other sources of radiation include X-rays or radiation therapy during the treatment of cancer.
- Chemical - When a part of the body comes into contact with solid acids, solvents, or detergents, it can cause a chemical burn.
- Electrical - It occurs due to electric shock.
If the patient has suffered a burn injury due to any of these causes, they should immediately contact Bedside Specialist Care California. The team of nurse practitioners, doctors, and physicians will visit the patient’s location and generate a suitable treatment plan after evaluating the wound condition.
How to Treat Burn Wounds
The treatment for the burns depends on the type, cause, and severity of an injury. The patient is required to clean the wound and cover it with appropriate dressing. Additionally, the symptoms of infections and other long-term issues, such as scarring, and tightened skin over joints and muscles, etc. must also be taken into account while getting treatment under the supervision of doctors.
Here is the treatment as per the burn type:
- First Degree Burns - Rinse the wound by running cool water over the burn. Avoid applying ice. In case of sunburn, aloe vera is recommended. While for thermal burns, the patients should opt for antibiotic cream and cover the wound with gauze.
- Second-degree Burns - The first & second-degree burns often come with similar treatment options. The health care providers may recommend a suitable antibiotic cream that contains silver, such as silver sulfadiazine to fight against bacteria.
- Third-degree Burns -These types of burns are life-threatening and require skin grafts to replace damaged tissues with healthy skin from another part of the body. This area used for skin grafting usually heals on its own. In case of unavailability of the skin required for graft surgery, a temporary source can be used from a deceased donor.
With proper treatment under the guidance of burns and scalds wound treatment, most first and second-degree burns heal over two to three weeks. Depending on the burn severity, the patient may have scarring which may fade with time. While in the case of third-degree burns, the patients require physical and occupational therapy to improve joint mobility.
