It seems that the topic of burns is the richest in myths and folk methods of treatment. Wherein traditional methods Treatments in most cases not only do not help, but can also harm the victim. But we still believe in their effectiveness... And this despite the fact that medical science has long developed clear rules for both first aid for burns and the treatment of these injuries at all stages. Let's find out how to effectively and safely treat thermal skin burns with the help of modern drugs, as well as how to correctly diagnose them in order to choose the appropriate treatment tactics.

Thermal skin burns: how to assess the extent of damage

According to statistics, most burns occur in domestic conditions and are caused by exposure to flame, boiling water, hot steam or hot objects. And - alas! – children often receive them. That is why every adult should be guided in determining the degree of burns, since the choice of the method of first aid, the method of further treatment of the burn and the assessment of the need for medical (including inpatient) care depends on this.

So, due to the fact that with thermal burns (unlike chemical burns and eye burns) determining their degree is quite easy; every person should be able to do this. To begin with, you should, if possible, clarify with the victim or others what happened, in order to make sure that the victim has a thermal burn, then examine the affected surface and assess the area of ​​the burn and the degree.

There are 4 degrees of burns

First degree: redness and swelling of the skin at the site of a thermal burn. Small bubbles with transparent contents may appear.

Second degree: redness and swelling of the skin at the site of the thermal burn, as well as tense or ruptured blisters and a thin scab that begins to form.

Third degree. With the third degree of thermal injury, there is a deep burn to the muscles and bones with the formation of a scab. Bubbles in the third degree, as a rule, have already burst. In this case, around the deep burn area there may be small bubbles with transparent contents (second degree burn) and redness (first degree burn).

Fourth degree. With a fourth degree burn, the burned part of the body becomes charred. It is possible to combine the fourth degree with the first, second and third.

That is, one victim may have burns of varying degrees. In this case, the severity of the victim’s condition is assessed by the deepest burns, depending on the area of ​​the affected surface.

Thermal skin burns: how to assess the affected area

It is extremely important to be able to determine the area of ​​a thermal burn - this allows you to choose the right treatment tactics and sometimes even save the victim’s life. One of the most simple ways estimating the burn area - the “rule of the palm”. The area of ​​a person's palm is on average 1% of the area of ​​their body. So, using the palm of your hand, you can determine how many percent of the body is affected.

There is also a rule of nine for adults: arm, half leg, half back, chest, stomach, head - 9% each, and crotch - 1%. But in children, the head and neck make up about 21% of the body area.

Thermal skin burns: how to choose the right first aid strategy

For superficial thermal burns of more than 10% of the body area of ​​adults (for children - more than 5%) and for deeper burns of 5% of the adult’s body (respectively, more than 2.5% of the child’s body), after first aid, mandatory medical assistance is required, followed by hospitalization. Such burns lead to disruption of the general condition, threaten the life of the victim and may subsequently require surgical intervention.

In addition to these cases, mandatory hospitalization is required for victims with deep burns of the hands and feet and superficial extensive burns of the hands and feet, with burns to the eyes, ears, face and perineum, as well as with suspected burns of the respiratory tract due to inhalation of extremely hot air.

Thermal skin burns: how to provide first aid

The algorithm for providing self- and mutual assistance for any thermal burns of the skin is as follows:

• Immediately extinguish the flame on the victim’s clothing and skin by covering it with a cloth (this will stop the flow of air), or throwing off burning clothing. You can extinguish a burning area of ​​clothing by covering it with earth, sand or snow, dousing it with water or lowering it into water.
• Calm the victim and others around.
• Carefully remove the smoldering remnants of clothing from the victim that are not fixed in the wound. It is forbidden to remove any remaining clothing that has stuck to the wound. You should also not touch the burned surface with your hands.
• In case of sunburn, simply move the victim to the shade.
• If you don’t know what happened, briefly and quickly clarify the circumstances (“the child poured a cup of hot broth on himself,” “clothes caught fire from the flames of the fire”).
• Keep the affected body surface under running cold water for 10-20 minutes (can be in a container with clean, cool water). This is necessary in order to prevent further deepening and expansion of the wound by heating the burned area. This will also improve blood circulation in the wound. But in no case should you use ice to cool the burn area, since, in addition to the existing burn, the victim will experience an additional injury - frostbite. In extreme cases (in the complete absence of running water), it is possible to cool the wound with urine, but in real life There are almost never any reasons to use this method.
• Apply an anti-burn agent (gel, ointment) to the burned surface, then apply a dry sterile bandage on top. Do not use cotton wool under any circumstances: you can only use a bandage, gauze - fabric materials. If there is no emergency treatment for burns nearby and there are no sterile bandages, you just need to apply a clean, dry bandage. Do not apply ointments, creams, or vegetable oil, beaten egg, sour cream, kefir, alcohol solutions and other means, as well as apply aloe leaves, Kalanchoe juice, golden mustache and others to the wound. For minor first-degree burns without extensive damage to the skin and blisters, you may not need to apply a bandage, but only apply the gel.
• In case of extensive burns of the arms and legs, it is necessary to fix the limb with a splint or improvised means and give the limb an elevated position.
• In case of extensive burns and if signs of burn shock occur (pallor, weakness, anxiety, cold sweat, tachycardia, drop in blood pressure, impaired cardiac activity and breathing), give the victim plenty of fluids - clean water, tea, compote. The liquid reduces intoxication, which occurs due to the absorption of decay products of burned skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscles into the blood.
• In case of severe pain, to prevent painful shock, the victim is given any painkiller (analgin, paracetamol, etc.).
• Proceed with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (artificial respiration and chest compressions) if the victim has no respiratory and (or) cardiac activity.
• If hospitalization is indicated, call an ambulance or take the victim to a medical facility. It is better to use the services of an ambulance, since we usually do not know which department of which hospital treats burns. If possible, this should be a specialized clinic or specialized department.

When can thermal skin burns be treated at home?

Not all burns require further treatment in a hospital or even a clinic. At home, you can independently treat superficial small burns without infection (without red swollen edges of the wound, without purulent discharge from the wound, increased body temperature, chills, increased pain in the wound, the appearance of twitching pain in the wound, etc.).

Adults can begin to treat at home burns covering an area of ​​up to 1% of the body (the size of the person’s palm), unless these are extensive burns of the hand, foot, face, or genitals. This is important to know because healing can cause scarring that will impair the function of these body parts. Only uninfected burns of the hand, foot, or face (about the size of a coin) can be treated at home.

It should be remembered that in case of prolonged non-healing burn, especially the lower extremities with concomitant neurovascular pathology of the legs, deepening of the wound, appearance of purulent discharge, unpleasant odor from the wound, if the pain intensifies and the general condition is impaired, you should definitely contact a surgeon at the clinic.

Any burns in newborns require medical attention and, as a rule, treatment in a hospital.

If soil gets into the wound during a burn, or the burn was received in nature, you should go to any emergency room or clinic surgeon on the same day to get vaccinated against tetanus, a dangerous infectious disease. It’s good if the doctor also treats this burn surface. In the future, it will be possible to continue treatment at home.

What you need to prepare to treat burns at home

• Sterile bandage - 1-2 packs per day (size and volume - depending on the area of ​​the burn).
• Hand sanitizer (antiseptic).
• Sterile medical gloves - 1 pair of gloves per dressing.
• Hydrogen peroxide (3% solution) – 1-2 bottles per dressing.
• Alcohol solutions of iodine or brilliant green (the so-called “brilliant green”) – 1 bottle.
• Solcoseryl ® gel – 1-2 tubes. In the future - as necessary. By the way, one tube of Solcoseryl ® gel should always be in your home medicine cabinet.
• Solcoseryl ® ointment – ​​1-2 tubes.
• Cotton swabs – 1 pack.
• Gauze swabs (for wound treatment) - you can make them yourself from a sterile bandage, wearing sterile gloves. Store them in a sterile bandage package. It is better to prepare new gauze swabs before each dressing.
• Scissors.
• Plaster (sometimes necessary to secure the bandage to intact skin).

How to treat thermal skin burns at home

Attention! You cannot open burn blisters yourself and use cotton wool and adhesive tape when treating the wound surface. The maximum that is permissible is that a dense bladder filled with contents can be carefully cut along one of the edges with a sterile blade or pierced with a sterile needle.

Dressings (burn treatment) are performed 1-2 times a day. First you need to prepare all the materials and sanitize the hands of the person who will do it. If a bandage has been applied, it should be removed. If the inside of the bandage is fixed to the wound, moisten it with 3% hydrogen peroxide and wait for it to separate from the wound.

Intact skin around the wound must be treated with a solution of iodine or brilliant green, and a preparation must be applied to the wound that will improve tissue nutrition and activate wound healing.

As a local treatment for burns to achieve the fastest possible healing, the Swiss preparations – Solcoseryl ® gel and ointment – ​​are optimal. Due to the active substance - deproteinized hemoderivative of the blood of dairy calves - they are able to effectively and safely activate restoration (reparative) processes in the wound and ensure wound healing by stimulating cells and increasing collagen synthesis.

In addition, Solcoseryl ® was developed taking into account the stages of local treatment of burns. That is why two forms of the drug Solcoseryl® have been developed - gel and ointment. In the first stages of treating a burn surface, only gel is used. Solcoseryl ® gel promotes the formation of granulation tissue, in which the healing process begins, as well as easy removal of discharge from the wound. In addition, it does not contain fat, which means it does not prevent the wound from “breathing,” which reduces its weeping. At the second stage of burn treatment (as the wound dries), ointment is more preferable. Solcoseryl ® ointment performs two functions at once: it creates a protective film on the wound and ensures reliable and rapid healing of the burn.

Thus, Solcoseryl gel and ointment

®

are the drugs of choice for effective complex treatment of burns of varying severity and are widely used in home and medical practice modern treatment thermal skin burns.

Thermal burns are characterized by redness, swelling, hyperemia of the skin, the appearance of blisters; in more complex stages, tissue, muscles, and sometimes internal organs. Such lesions are often caused by human carelessness or an accident.

Regardless of the stage of the thermal burn, the patient needs first aid. In stages 1 and 2, the victim can be treated at home; stages 3 and 4 are among the most severe - the person requires hospitalization and treatment in a hospital.

Thermal burns 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree

Thermal burns occur when the skin is exposed to high temperatures, the sources of which can be:

• hard, hot objects, including kitchen utensils;
• open flame from any source, from a gas burner to an ordinary match;
• hot water from any source, including natural streams;
• steam from a pipe or hose in production, heating appliances, household dishes.

Approximately, all burns are conventionally divided into non-extensive - up to 10% of the body is affected, and extensive - over 10%. The initial value in this case is considered to be the area of ​​the victim’s palm, which is equal to 1% of the total body area. So, using the palm of your hand, you can determine how many percent of the body is affected by the burn.

• Minor burns cause a general pain reaction, sometimes with fever and headache, a feeling of discomfort and pain in the area of ​​damage;
• For extensive lesions more are observed serious complications and disturbances in the functioning of the whole organism - burn disease.

Depending on the degree of penetration of the burn to a certain depth and area of ​​skin damage, there are four main degrees of damage. The degree of burn is expressed as a percentage, which indicates the area of ​​skin damage.

• 4th degree. The burns cover the entire area, and most of the tissue becomes necrosis. There is a risk of death.
• Stage 3 is characterized by tissue damage down to the muscles, and sometimes to the bones, with the blisters most often bursting and a scab forming. The affected area may be surrounded by a second degree burn with small blisters filled with clear liquid, as well as reddened skin (first degree).
• Grade 2 is expressed in redness and swelling of the skin, charged or burst blisters, as well as a thin scab that forms over time.
• 1st degree. The affected area gradually swells and turns red. At this time, the person experiences pain and burning in the area of ​​the affected tissue. Symptoms appear within 2-3 days and then disappear. After about a week, the skin looks completely healthy.

Of course, the degree of burn will depend on many factors, for example, the duration of exposure high temperature. And incorrectly provided assistance for thermal burns can lead to additional injuries when removing clothing or an object that caused the burn. Therefore, it is very important to know the rules of first aid for thermal burns.

First aid for thermal burns

In order to provide first aid at home, it is necessary to carry out a number of procedures aimed at eliminating pain in a person and preventing infection of the damaged skin area:

1. Immediately extinguish the flame on the victim’s clothing and skin by covering it with a cloth (this will stop the flow of air), or throwing off burning clothing. You can extinguish a burning area of ​​clothing by covering it with earth, sand or snow, dousing it with water or lowering it into water.
2. Calm the victim and others around, thus preventing panic attacks on both parties.
3. Carefully remove the smoldering remnants of clothing from the victim that are not fixed in the wound. It is forbidden to remove any remaining clothing that has stuck to the wound. You should also not touch the burned surface with your hands.
4. It is best to place the victim in a cool room or in the shade if the burn occurred outdoors in the summer. It is necessary to find out in as much detail as possible the circumstances under which the person was injured.
5. Keep the damaged surface under the flow for 15-20 minutes. cold water– this will help improve blood circulation and prevent the affected area from increasing in size due to heating of the remaining areas of the skin (only for 1-2 degree burns).
6. Ice should not be used to cool the burn area, since, in addition to the existing burn, the victim will experience an additional injury - frostbite.
7. Use an anti-burn agent (for example, “Rescuer” or “Panthenol”) to apply to the affected area of ​​the skin and apply a dry sterile bandage. For extensive burns to the extremities, they can be carefully secured using a splint.
8. In case of extensive burns and if signs of burn shock occur (pallor, weakness, anxiety, cold sweat, tachycardia, drop in blood pressure, impaired cardiac activity and breathing), give the victim plenty of fluids to drink - clean water, tea, compote.
9. If the victim complains of pain, then in order to avoid painful shock, you should give him any available drug (spasmalgon, analgin, etc.).
10. If a person is not breathing, the first step is to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, such as artificial respiration or chest compressions.
11. If hospitalization is indicated, call an ambulance or take the victim to a medical facility.

If all of the above conditions are met, the chances of a favorable outcome for the victim are quite high. However, it must be remembered that even the smallest and most insignificant thermal injury can provoke severe consequences, including death in the victim.

Treatment of thermal burns at home

There are some restrictions on treating thermal burns at home. So, you don’t have to go to the hospital if:

• The degree of thermal burn is mild (1st or 2nd), without damage to the deep layers of the skin;
• the burn is about 1% of the body size - the area is approximately equal to the size of the palm;
• the location of the burn, the size of a palm, is not the face, foot or hand;
• the burn wound does not become inflamed, there is no suppuration or redness of the edges of the wound.

Antishock therapy should be adequate to the stage of medical care, the severity of burn shock and the age of the victim. It should include the following activities:

• pain relief;
• replenishment of blood deficiency (its components);
• prevention, treatment of hypoxia;
• correction of water-electrolyte, protein metabolism and acid-base balance of the blood;
• fight against intoxication;
• compensation of the body's energy costs;
• prevention, treatment of heart disorders;
• prevention, treatment of acute hepatic-renal failure.

Much attention should be paid to the treatment of burns in children, since it is necessary to act not only quickly, but also as safely as possible, without accidentally harming the child. Effective treatment 3rd and 4th degree burns largely depend on how quickly qualified medical care can be obtained.

What not to do

• pop blisters;
• cover the wound with a plaster;
• treat the wound with cotton wool - only a sterile bandage or gauze swabs;
• touch the wound with your hands without sterile gloves;
• apply any means to the wound traditional medicine(butter, sour cream, kefir, beaten eggs, alcohol solutions of any healing herbs, etc.).

Burn shock

This is the body’s response to a super-strong pain stimulus. It is based on thermal injury, leading to severe disorders of central, regional and peripheral hemodynamics with a predominant disruption of microcirculation and metabolic processes in the body of the burned person; centralization of blood circulation occurs. Prolonged painful stimulation leads to dysfunction of the central nervous system, endocrine glands and the activity of all body systems.

Forecast

All burns have a negative impact on human system organs. How quickly a person recovers from a burn depends on its extent, degree and age of the patient. Burns are dangerous for older people over 60 years of age and small children.

A critical condition if the burn affects the entire skin, face, genitals, perineum, and internal organs. In this situation, a person is rarely saved. So, the effect of heat on the skin at a temperature of more than 50 degrees leads to cells overheating, dying, protein denaturation, paralysis in tissue respiration, and metabolism is disrupted. Thermal burn is dangerous, so you need to take action as soon as possible.

Infrared rays do not emit ultraviolet radiation, kill harmful microorganisms, and do not contribute to oxygen burnout, as they heat the surfaces of physical objects, which subsequently give off heat. A correctly selected IR heater is quite useful for the human body, but misuse can be very dangerous.

Infrared Heater Information

Despite the serious benefits for human immunity, an infrared heater can cause serious problems, and the reason is the wrong choice of wavelength for the heater for home use.

There are the following infrared radiation categories:

• long-wave (maximally safe for humans; wavelength 50-200 microns);
• medium wave (can cause harm to the body; length 2.5-50 microns);
• short-wave (very dangerous radiation at home; length 0.76-2.5 microns).

The effect of different wavelengths from IR radiation can be described as follows, in descending order:

• IR-C – rays affect only the surface of the skin;
• IR-B - radiation penetrates the upper layers of the skin, causing changes;
• IR-A - harmful radiation passes through the layers of the epidermis up to 4 cm deep, causing dangerous consequences.

Often, manufacturers of infrared heaters are silent about the fact that the higher the strength of the heating element, the more short waves it emits. It is this length of radiation that is dangerous and causes great harm to the body.

Harm of an infrared heater

An infrared heater causes the following changes in the human body:

1. Overdrying of the skin. IR radiation acts on surfaces almost instantly, causing moisture to evaporate. Human skin does not have time to produce a sufficient amount of moisture, which is why the skin dries out.
2. Burns. Prolonged presence near an infrared heater can cause real burns on the skin. This applies to radiation from medium length waves and, especially, short ones.
3. More serious consequences. When standing next to an infrared heater that emits short waves, if a person is not fully protected by clothing, more dangerous consequences occur:

• the protein in the body begins to melt, after which it becomes extremely difficult to restore its normal function;
• cell membranes lose the ability to pass metabolites through themselves (lose their permeability properties);
• serious changes in blood cells;
• when exposed to the eyes, infrared radiation negatively affects the retina and lens of the eye (it causes not only vision problems, but can also develop cataracts in the shortest possible time).

1. With constant exposure to the skin, burns are the most minimally terrible event. The next stage is the appearance of redness and blisters.

Read about which heater is better to choose and what criteria you should pay attention to: .

The harm from an infrared heater is not absolute. When used correctly and avoiding constant exposure to rays on the body, such a heater is very useful. It is necessary to take seriously all the characteristics of the purchased equipment and be sure to avoid exposure to the most dangerous radiation - short-wave radiation.

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