Burns are a common household injury, so it’s highly likely you’ve already experienced one in your life. While not all burns require immediate medical attention, around 1 1 million Americans will require medical attention for more severe types of burns.
But for those that aren’t necessarily fatal, burns can easily be treated at home through some natural remedies. But before considering natural home remedies, it’s important to determine whether a burn calls for home remedies (such as when you accidentally touch a hot pot) or when you need serious medical attention (such as when your business’s Potter fire systems go off and you find yourself in a serious situation).
Here are the natural home remedies to consider for the three types of burns.
First-Degree Burns
First-degree burns are painful, but they’re not necessarily fatal as long as you keep it clean to reduce the chance of infection. It is a superficial burn, meaning it only affects the outermost layer of your skin.
You can determine if your burn is a first-degree burn from symptoms such as redness, swelling, and peeling skin as your burn starts to heal. The pain can be easily managed by painkillers, and the entire burn can heal in less than two weeks, often without scarring.
Two safe and natural home remedies for first-degree burns include soaking the burn in cool water for at least five minutes and applying an aloe vera gel onto the affected area to help soothe the pain.
Cool water can reduce the temperature on your skin, minimizing the damage caused by the burn. However, avoid applying ice or ice-cold water as it can cause frostbite, damage your skin, and leave permanent scars.
Second-Degree Burns
Second-degree burns are more serious as the burns have reached beyond the top layer of the skin. This makes it more prone to bacterial infection, and some may take longer than three weeks to completely heal. In some cases, skin grafting may be necessary to fix the damage. You can identify second-degree burns from the way the skin blisters, turns red, and feels sore.
The only recommended natural home remedy for second-degree burns is to run the affected area over cool water for at least 15 minutes. For open wounds, you may need antibiotic cream to avoid infection and painkillers to treat the pain.
Third-degree Burns
Because of the severity of third-degree burns, this has no safe natural home remedies and should be taken immediately to an emergency room for surgery and treatment. Third-degree burns have the worst damage as it has burned through every layer of skin. The only thing worse than third-degree burns are fourth-degree burns that burn through the tendons and bones.
Unlike first and second-degree burns, third-degree burns may not necessarily be the most painful because the damage may be so severe that nerve damage may make the burn victim unable to feel pain.
If you experience third-degree burns, you have to rush to an emergency room immediately. Third-degree burns bring risks such as infection, blood loss, shock, or hypothermia.
First and second-degree burns have their own home remedies that are safe to use. But for extreme cases of third-degree burns, it’s not recommended that you try to treat your wound at home and have it brought to an emergency room immediately. All forms of burns are at risk of bacterial infection, so as much as possible keep the affected area cool by using cool (but not freezing) water and clean through antibacterial creams.
While there are natural home remedies for certain types of burns, it’s best to leave more severe cases of burns to your professional medical care provider.
