How to Properly Treat A Severe Burn
When you spend time cooking, you’re bound to get burned at one point. So, what do you do after you have suffered a burn? If it’s a minor burn, you can easily handle it at home, but what happens when the burn is severe? Of course, you have to go to the doctor at that point. But there are different ways in which you can treat severe burns. It would help if you found the right ideas on adequately treating a severe burn, failure to which may lead to infections and other problems.
Go to A Doctor
The first step you have to take when you suffer a severe burn is visiting a doctor. The doctor will then assess the burn before any action is taken. If you have burns covering over 10% of your body, you will be sent to a burn center. 10% burns on your body are pretty deep. You may be sent for X-rays or another diagnosis if the doctor feels the burn is along with specific areas. There are certain criteria that if the burn exceeds, you have to be sent to a burn center, no doubt.
Treatment
Burns, depending on severity, have different treatment options. For minor burns, they can be easily treated at home. The healing time for the burns is also short as it may take only a few weeks to heal. Minor burns only require first-aid measures and wound dressing, and you should consider taking Brisbane-based first aid courses at Fluid First Aid so that you know how to properly treat these burns. For severe burns, you need to seek medical assistance. However, you need to perform first aid and then assess the injury – yourself or have a doctor do it. After the assessment is when you get treatment recommendations, treatment will involve dressing, therapy, and medication. There are some cases where the burns are pretty severe that you may need surgery too.
Aim for Treatment
There are various reasons why treatment is recommended, the first being to control the pain. When you have severe burns, chances are you’re in pain too. Treatment will seek to address that. Treatment also aims to remove dead tissue, reduce scarring, and prevent infection. For severe burns, treatment may also involve regaining the body functions of the affected areas.
Medical Treatment
There are several types of treatments that can be recommended for burn victims. Here are a few that may be recommended.
- Water-based – ultrasound and mist treatment for cleaning the injury
- Pain and anxiety medication
- Dressing
- Fluids to prevent dehydration – intravenous IV fluids may be recommended to curb organ failures and dehydration.
- Tetanus shot
- Antibiotics to fight developing infections
Home Remedies
It would help if you administered first aid before you got to the hospital for specialized treatment.
Some of the things you can do include:
- Remove rings and other tight items around the area
- Don’t break the blisters
- Cool the burn – you can hold the burn area under cool water
- Apply lotion – it prevents drying and relieves pain
- Bandage the burn
- Take a tetanus shot – you need a tetanus shot once every ten years. Ensure you’re up to date.
Treat Your Burns
When you suffer a severe burn, you need to rush to the hospital to be assessed. Here are some other ideas on how you can treat a severe burn, from first aid to hospital.
