Painful Body Burns Urgent Care
Causes, Kinds and First Aids
The appearance and extent of burns vary according to the severity of damage to body tissues.
Michael Jackson suffered second-degree and third-degree burns after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire while filming a Pepsi Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium on January 27, 1984.
Burns are painful with intensity depending on the extent of the injury. Paradoxically, there is no pain in third degree burns because the excessive heat has damaged the nerves. However, burn injuries can cause heat loss, hamper blood circulation and coagulation, and increase infection.
Causes of Body Burns
There are many different causes for burns to the skin. The most common source of burn is sun exposure. Sunburns are rarely critical, but burns can cause blistering and swelling.
Burn injuries from chemicals, electricity, fire, hot gases and liquids, and radiation including steam harm not only the skin but also the bones, blood vessels, fat tissues and muscles.
Burn injuries from building fires are devastating and incapacitating. Most building fires start from lighted cigarettes to cooking gases to faulty electrical wiring. Overheating of consumer electrical products can set off fire or high amount of heat that can cause serious burn injuries or death.
Nearly all severe burn injuries in industrial environments are results of chemical and gasoline spills, industrial explosions, and machinery defects. Flammable liquids like gasoline are extra-dangerous. Adhesives, cleaners, and paints if not kept properly can explode and cause fatal burns.
Carelessness with the use of lye and strong acids can cause body burns that may require surgery and months of healing.
Kinds of Burn Injuries
Burns produce different degrees of blisters, pains, skin loss, and swelling. Michael Jackson became partially bald after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire. The accident also caused him damaged hair follicles that make hair loss permanent.
Doctors classify body burns according to a burn's depth and extent of tissue damage. The extent of the injury determines the healing period and whether the burn is prone to complications and infections.
First-degree burns are the most superficial. They affect only the epidermis. First-degree burns are red, swollen, and painful but do not develop blisters.
Second-degree burns extend into the dermis. Sometimes, second-degree burns involve the deeper parts of the dermis. Second-degree burns are painful and may ooze a clear fluid.
Third-degree burns involve the entire thickness of the skin--epidermis, dermis, and fat layer including the sweat glands, hair follicles, and nerve endings. The injury has little or no pain, but the skin becomes leathery, and turns to white, black, or bright red color.
First Aid for Body Burns
Painful burns need urgent care. First aid treatment is necessary for all burn injuries to reduce the temperature and damage to the skin including the underlying tissues. Care for first-degree and second-degree burns:
- Remove the cause of the burn. Remove tight-fitting clothes and jewelries.
- Apply an ice pack on the affected are for 20 minutes with 10 minutes interval between applications until the pain subsides. Dry the area when the pain has subsided. For superficial burns, immediately immerse affected area in cold running water.
- Apply antibiotic cream on the burnt area to soothe it and prevent infection.
- Keep the burnt area clean and protect blisters with a nonstick bandage or with sterile gauze.
- Do not burst a blister. Let it heal on its own. If the blister breaks, press the area to get rid of the fluid, then remove the loose skin.
- Wash the burnt area with mild soap and water. Pat dry and then apply antibiotic cream twice daily.
For large second-degree burns and third-degree burns, call an ambulance or go to the nearest emergency room. While waiting for the ambulance, have the burn victim lie down.
- Keep the burn victim warm.
- If the injuries are on the face, help the patient to a sitting position, but watch for breathing difficulties.
- If the burn injuries are on the limb, keep the limbs elevated.
- Give the victim half a glass of water at 15 minutes intervals, but discontinue if the victim vomits.
- Do not immerse burn injuries in cool water.
Normally, doctors prescribe antibiotics to burn victims to minimize complications, and bacterial infections that can spread throughout the bloodstream and cause severe illness or death.
Burns are the most devastating injuries for humans. Burns can be painful and disfiguring, sometimes requiring long hospitalization and lifetime care. Hospitalization is indispensable for severe burns in the face, feet, genitals, hands, and scalp in the very young or the very old. Treatment at burn centers that are equipped with management of burn pain and staffed to care for burn victims is best.
US Magazine.com reported that Michael Jackson's body and scalp burns needed multiple restoration surgeries. Initially, Michael Jackson underwent 80 minutes of bloodless laser surgery to repair his burned scalp. The incident was the beginning of serious, lifetime pain for Jackson, and battle with pain medication until his death at age 50.
Sources
- Total Burn Care by David N. Herndon
- Foundations of Nursing By Lois White
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