Burn treatment

Generally 20% of adults, 10% of children have big burns and therefore they need to be admitted and treated in the hospital. Although percentages may be lower, burns on the face, hand, leg, and genitals must be treated at the hospital due the burn area. In small burns, (less than 5%), treatment in the hospital is usually not necessary, but if the burn is caused by electrical or chemical agents, they should be evaluated in the hospital as well.

Clothing must be removed and the burnt area should be washed with warm water to cool the burns caused by hot liquids. The first treatment that can be done at home is to treat the burnt area by applying ointments that include hydro gel. The hydrogen will cool the burnt area and lessen the burning sensation. Water-filled bubbles may form, and it is advised to not pop these bubbles. A burn specialist must treat the area that has been burned with dressing without wasting time.

In electrical burns, the parts that the electric has entered and exited will cause burns on the skin. The electricity causes damage to the passage areas located inside the tissue. If it has passed through near the heart, it would need to be monitored and watched. Treatment is needed if there is arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).

Respiratory tract damage can be developed in patients with burns due to smoke and heat in the air. Firstly, the patient’s respiratory tract needs to be opened and given oxygen if necessary. The patient can be connected to a respirator if needed.

Chemical agent burns may be caused by variety of reasons. According to the reason, the area must be washed with water that does not have too much pressure; 30 minutes in acid burns, and 1-2 hours in base burns.

Treatment for first-degree burns: There is damage on the top later of the skin. Sunburns are classified as these types of burns. In order to treat this type of burn, the skin needs to be cooled, topical anesthetic medicines, moisturizers, and oil-based creams may be used. The surface of the area that is burned will peel like snakeskin in 1-2 weeks.

In second-degree burns, the entire upper layer of the skin is completely burned. Healing of the skin is dependent on fat glands, sweat glands, and hair roots cell increase. Second degree burns can be divided into two classifications as superficial and deep burns according to the loss amount of skin adds providing healing. External second-degree burns do not leave behind scars, while second degree burns heal but leave scars behind. It is important to try to protect the water-filled bubbles in the burnt area. It will be followed up with medical dressing. The healing process for superficial burns vary between 7-10 days, while deep second degree burns take 2-3 weeks to heal.

In third degree burns, there aren’t any skin additions left in order to renew the skin. The healing begins with the edges of the burnt skin and a bothersome and worrying mark begins to form. In order to prevent a bad wound from healing in the burnt area, skin transplants can be practicable. While the small areas can start healing by leaving scars with dressing, the larger areas will take a longer period to heal and if it leads to infections, it can lead to vital danger. Burns in the joint and neck areas can cause restriction of movement. Skin transplants accelerate the healing process and prevent loss of function. Scars are less likely to form in the areas which skin transplants are performed. In later periods of time, skin transplant operations can be performed in order to lessen the scars.

The treatment of second and third degree burns need to be performed by a burn specialist. These types of burns needs to be followed-up by closed dressing as much as possible.