Know Your Burns
There are many different types and even degrees of burns that can afflict somebody's skin. These factors are largely dependent upon the reason for the burn and how critically the skin was damaged. For example “open flames” are generally among the usual causes of people getting burned. However, there are various other causes. These include friction burns, cold burns, thermal burns, radiation burns, chemical burns, and electric burns. The degree to which the skin is damaged is also grouped into four categories by medical experts as first, second, third, and fourth degree burns. Below, we will briefly dive into some of these categorizations:
- Friction Burn: We’ve all experienced our knees or elbows rubbing against the carpet too hard while playing, as children. This is essentially what a friction burn is, caused by the friction of skin rubbing against another object or material. It consists of both a scrape and a heat burn.
- Cold Burn: That’s right, the skin can be burned by cold as well as heat. A cold burn, also known as frostbite, is caused by the skin being exposed to freezing temperatures or by direct skin-contact with something extremely cold. This burn can significantly damage the skin tissue.
- Thermal Burn: Direct skin-contact with an extremely hot surface or objects, such as most metals, heated objects, boiling water, hot oil or even hot steam, cause thermal burns, which kill the skin cells almost immediately. The most common thermal burns are caused by fire flames.
- Radiation Burn: Most of us have experienced sun burns in our lives. This is a form of radiation burn, which is the damage of skin due to exposure to a form of radiation. Other examples of this are X-ray burns, UV light burns, and radio frequency burns.
- Chemical Burns: When the skin comes into contact with a certain acid, solvent, or detergent, this can cause a chemical burn and may cause damage to the skin.
- Electrical Burns: When the body comes into contact with a strong electrical current, this causes the electricity to travel through the body and damage tissues from a mild to severe degree, depending on the specific situation.
Degrees of Burns:
- First Degree Burn: An example of a first degree burn is a mild sunburn. These burns affect only the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, and may result in redness, dryness, and some pain. Long-Term tissue damage is very uncommon with first degree burns.
- Second Degree Burn: This burn goes beyond the epidermis and begins to damage the dermis, the second layer of the skin. This burn will already be visible as blisters, very bright red skin, and swelling. There will be greater pain when the skin is touched. There are varying severity levels of second degree burns. The most sever of these are called partial thickness burns, which result in scarring and permanent skin discoloration.
- Third Degree Burn: This type of burn completely destroys both the epidermis and the dermis. The skin usually turns black, brown, or a light yellow. In this burn, the pain receptors themselves get burned off and There will be a numbing sensation in the area.
- Fourth Degree Burn: These are the most sever of all burns as they go beyond the skin and begin to damage the muscle, tendon or bone. Due to the severity of this burn, it often results in removal or amputation of the burned area and it could potentially be life-threatening.
Burn pain can be one of the most intense and long lasting types of pain. Thankfully, there are natural remedies which effectively aid in their healing. Our Natural Multifunction Ointment is comprised of natural ingredients which can be beneficial for first and second degree burns. If you have experienced a second, third, or fourth degree burn, it is best to consult with medical experts immediately.
Click on the link to read an article reviewed by Carol DerSarkissian (Webmd (4/25/2019. What are the Types and Degrees of Burns, Know Your Burns). We hope you will find this delightful resource informative and educational:
