Prompt first aid is all that is needed for most minor burns and scalds.The first healing step is to immerse the burnt area in cold water for at least 20 minutes.This cools the skin, stops burning and relieves pain. Follow up by keeping the area clean and applying soothing compresses and boosting your body's ability to heal itself by taking one of the remedies recommended here.
First things first
- Act fast.You can safely treat burns that affect only the top layer of skin, depending on size: even first degree burns require medical attention if they cover a large area (bigger than hand-size). Deeper burns and those caused by electricity need emergency medical attention.
- As soon as you can, get the burnt skin under cold running water if possible (running water stays cold), for at least 20 minutes. If there's no water available, use any other cold, non-irritating liquid such as milk or iced tea.
- Remove jewellery or clothes that may constrict the area if swelling occurs.
- Take care not to break any blisters. They are nature's protective coating.
- Leave the burn alone for at least 24 hours so it can begin to heal on its own. If a blister bursts, clean the area and apply some antiseptic cream before covering with a loose dressing.
Look to nature's healers
- Once your burn has had two or three days to heal, you can try applying any of the following remedies.
- Squeeze or scrape some aloe vera gel from a freshly cut leaf and apply it to the burn. The cooling gel reduces pain, moistens the skin and keeps bacteria and air out of the burn. If you don't have a plant, apply an aloe vera based cream or gel two to three times a day.
- The daisy-like flowers of camomile have long been used in burns remedies. To help a burn heal more quickly, apply camomile cream (from health-food shops) or make a compress using a cotton cloth soaked in a strong infusion of camomile.
- Another gentle healer is calendula ointment, made from the flowers of garden marigolds. Apply as often as needed.
- You can make a soothing compress by soaking a cloth in diluted distilled witch hazel or cooled tea made from marigold, chickweed or elderflowers. Apply the compress three or four times a day.
- The yellow flowers of St John's wort contain hypericin, a substance renowned for its ability to heal wounds and burns. It is the active constituent in hypericum ointment, which can be applied to a burn three times a day. The flowers are also dried and can be used to make a healing compress. Put one teaspoon of the dried herb into a cup of boiling water, steep for five minutes and strain. Soak a cloth in the cooled tea and apply to the burnt area twice a day.
Comfort foods
- Slap on some honey. Researchers in India found that honey was more effective on burns than silver sulphadiazine — the effective ingredient in conventional burns treatment creams. The study observed that burns dressed with honey healed faster and with less pain and scarring.
- Soak a flannel in ice-cold whole milk and apply to the burn for ten minutes at a time.
Homeopathic remedies
- Apply Urtica or Hypercal — available as ointments or tinctures — to any burns that have not blistered. For burns that blister, take Cantharis by mouth every hour.
Heal from the inside out
- Immune system boosting echinacea can help your skin to repair itself and fight off infection. Buy the tincture (1:5 in 45% alcohol) and take 15 drops in water three times a day.
- Gotu kola (or Indian pennywort) is a small tropical plant whose leaves have valuable wound healing properties. They are used in capsules as well as external ointments. For burns, take one or two 300mg capsules with food, up to three times a day.
COOL A SCALDED MOUTH
- Gulping a hot drink, taking a mouthful of microwaved mince e, biting into a cheesy pizza — all these can cause excruciating inside your mouth. The tissue on the roof of your mouth is very thin and burns easily. Like an injury to any other part of your body, a burn inside your mouth will take time to heal. Left to its own devices, your mouth should heal completely in a week or so, and you may be able to reduce healing time if you act quickly to cool down the burn.
- Slap on some honey. Researchers in India found that honey was more effective on burns than silver sulphadiazine — the effective ingredient in conventional burns treatment creams. The study observed that burns dressed with honey healed faster and with less pain and scarring.
- Soak a flannel in ice-cold whole milk and apply to the burn for ten minutes at a time.
Homeopathic remedies
- Apply Urtica or Hypercal — available as ointments or tinctures — to any burns that have not blistered. For burns that blister, take Cantharis by mouth every hour.
Heal from the inside out
- Immune system boosting echinacea can help your skin to repair itself and fight off infection. Buy the tincture (1:5 in 45% alcohol) and take 15 drops in water three times a day.
- Gotu kola (or Indian pennywort) is a small tropical plant whose leaves have valuable wound healing properties. They are used in capsules as well as external ointments. For burns, take one or two 300mg capsules with food, up to three times a day.
COOL A SCALDED MOUTH
- Gulping a hot drink, taking a mouthful of microwaved mince e, biting into a cheesy pizza — all these can cause excruciating inside your mouth. The tissue on the roof of your mouth is very thin and burns easily. Like an injury to any other part of your body, a burn inside your mouth will take time to heal. Left to its own devices, your mouth should heal completely in a week or so, and you may be able to reduce healing time if you act quickly to cool down the burn.
Water, water everywhere
- Just like a burn to the skin, the best thing you can do with a scalded mouth is to cool it down. And the easiest way to do that is with cold water. Spend 5 or 10 minutes simply rinsing, spitting and gargling with cold water until the pain in your mouth eases.
- An even faster method is to use ice if you can get hold of some quickly. Suck ice cubes until the stinging stops.
- Once you've finished the initial cooling off, rinse and gargle with a salt water solution. Stir half a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm water and use it to wash your mouth out. (Don't swallow it.) The salt is antiseptic and will help to clean and disinfect the burn.
Cool and sweet
- The fastest and most enjoyable way to cool down a pizza scalded mouth — especially if you're eight years old — is with scoop, or three, of ice cream.
Don't slow down the healing process
- For a few days after burning your mouth, steer clear of hot drinks. Let tea and coffee cool to lukewarm before inflict them on your mouth, or stick to cold drinks for a while.
- Temporarily take crusty baguettes off the lunch menu. The same applies to crisps, raw carrots and crunchy apples. Any these foods can scratch a healing burn.
- You may want to avoid hot spices, too, as these will irritate the damaged skin.
Try a healing herbal mouthwash
- Blackberry leaves have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Make a decoction by putting 10g dried leaves u 100m1 (3'411 oz) cold water. Bring to the boil and leave infuse for 15 minutes. Strain, sweeten with honey if you wish and use as a mouthwash and gargle as often as you like.
0 comments:
Post a Comment