Auto accidents, fires, explosions, and other incidents can potentially lead to a minor burn injury, which can become serious, causing infection, tissue damage, scarring, emotional trauma, and more. Burn complications can affect a victim’s lifestyle and, in worse cases, lead to death. Although a prescription drug prescribed during a medical emergency reduces pain, burn care requires more than disease control through painkillers.

The pain subsides significantly depending on any allergic reaction and overall wound care. The emergency department will provide medical advice. Below, our top Los Angeles burn injury lawyers will discuss other ways to reduce pain and how to hold the liable party accountable for your break blisters and other injuries.

Minor Burns, Like a First Degree Burn, Can Still Be Painful – Learn Treatment Methods, Here

Electrical burns to kids around the house will result in a more significant degree of burn than an adult would experience from most first-degree burns over their total body surface area. Almost always, the kids burn worse than grown-ups. If you or your loved one have had injuries from burns due to someone else’s negligence, reach out to Ehline Law and our Los Angeles burn injury lawyers today for legal representation and outpatient management!

How Do I Treat My First-Degree Burns or a Minor Burn?

Here, we are not covering second-degree burns. Instead, our focus will be on first-degree burns caused by the most common household injuries. There are different ways of treating a minor first-degree burn. To me, you can treat a little burn, like first-degree burns, with a cold, wet cloth.

For major burns, like third-degree burns or even partial-thickness burns, you need to seek proper medical attention, while treatment for minor burns (first-degree burns) at home is possible with a few medications, a cold, wet cloth, and some quick first aid.

When you get burned, you should first cool the burn down by putting the burn area under cool, running water. Ensure the water is not cold or freezing, as this can lead to loss of body heat, and hypothermia might set in, complicating things further.

Once the minor burns have cooled down, if you’re wearing accessories like rings, it is best to take them off before the burn area swells, which might make it difficult to remove later on. Quickly and gently remove any accessories you might be wearing that come in contact with the burn area.

You may notice that the burned area is developing blisters fast, and some blisters might have fluid that protects you against infection. This might not happen with first-degree burns, but it could with other superficial burns and even worsen the burn. You may want to break the blister b,  but don’t do it; let it open up over time. If it does, wash it and apply antibiotic ointments (even petroleum jelly) to the area covering the skin’s deeper layers.

It would help if you kept the minor burn from drying out. An aloe vera moisturizer or cream can soothe the wounds. Start applying the aloe vera lotion once the burn area has cooled down completely. A sterile gauze bandage should be applied to the area for wound dressing to ensure that air does not enter the site. This will help relieve pain and protect the skin from blisters.

At times, you may find that the pain is too much to handle, and in such situations, you can take over-the-counter pain medications or pain-reducing antibiotic ointment to get some pain relief. If the burn heals, seek medical care for a tetanus shot if you notice an infection.

Implement First Aid To Promote Healing to First-Degree Burns

There are more than 1.1 million burn cases in the United States, and according to the American Burn Association, 10,000 people die annually out of this. First-degree burns are the most minor and typically are not a medical emergency. Sometimes, a clean, wet cloth with some mild soap can bring relief before you apply ointments over the affected top layer of skin.

Many first-degree burns heal over time by themselves, but having the correct first aid can promote the burn wound healing process and ensure a better cosmetic outcome of the burn injury as the burn heals.

End the Burning Process

The critical part of first aid for burns is to end the burning process. If you’re near a fire, extinguish the heat source immediately to avoid other first-degree superficial burns. If you’ve caught fire, you should lay on the ground, start rolling to douse the fire, and immediately remove your clothing, as these can retain heat and further aggravate the burned skin wounds. However, do not remove nylon clothing as it can stick to the skin, and for electrical burns, disconnect the electrical source before giving first aid to the victim.

Once the victim is away from the source of the burns, look at the first-degree burn. These are seldom medical emergencies. You may see redness or blisters. These injuries are emergencies if you see black skin or other tissue, like muscles. Follow the procedure below to immediately deliver the right first aid if you are dealing with first-degree burns.

• Burn to cool: Within 20 minutes of the injury, the burn victim must apply active cooling to any burns, whether first, second, or third-degree burns. Place the burn area directly under running cool water for 20 minutes to help soothe the pain, remove anything touching the burn if possible, and stabilize the victim. Avoid ice water at all costs, as it can further deteriorate the burned area due to vasoconstriction and hypothermia.
• Analgesia: Burned skin exposes nerves and tissues, which can cause pain, and simply covering the wound can reduce the pain levels; however, in extreme cases, doctors can administer opioid medications. To treat burns, taking ibuprofen or any non-steroid anti-inflammatory over-the-counter drugs can ease swelling and reduce pain.
• Burn coverings: Many medical sources recommend using clingfilm to cover burns, as it is sterile as long as users remove the first few inches of the roll. Lay the clingfilm over the wound and keep the burn warm by placing a blanket over it. Wrapping clingfilm tightly around the burn wound can cause constriction, complicate the injuries, and cause infection. So, make sure it’s loose, even when treating a first-degree burn.

Once these steps are complete, victims must head to a hospital immediately for immediate assessment and start any medical treatments if the wounds are severe. Applying creams can affect the assessment stage. However, cooling gels are a great alternative to creams; you can use them at this stage.

Benefits of Cooling Burn Injuries with Water

There are several benefits of using cool water to cool burn injuries. Cooling water has been a great first response to surface cooling after getting burn injuries, and many doctors and study papers agree with this. Medical professionals recommend cooling burned skin with cool water as a pre-hospital initial burn management technique to reduce burn progression.

The recommended time to run water over the burn injuries is around 20 minutes. However, the fear of burn wounds aggravating does not allow victims to lay their wounds under running water for that long as, in their mind, seeking medical attention immediately is the right way to manage burn wounds.

Running burn wounds under cool water reduces pain and stops the burn. It also cleans the wound and minimizes scarring due to fluid build-up.

Cling Film For Dressing Burn Wounds are the Best

This may sound unorthodox, as many of us grab bandages or cotton cloth to cover wounds. However, studies have shown that cling film is the best for dressing burn wounds. This is because cling film is highly sterile and transparent, allowing victims to see their burn wounds and monitor them as time passes.

Using bandages on wounds can cause pain when removing the dressing to check up on the burns, which is why many health professionals recommend clingfilm, which has sterile, non-adhesive properties. You can even consider using a sterile, non-adhesive bandage to cover your wounds.

Can I Start Minor Burn Management at Home?

A burns victim should always consult a burns unit to understand burn management procedures if they have any doubts properly.

Burn management is essential to ensure that the burn does not progress or worsen. In many cases where the burn affects the feet and legs, victims must have their legs elevated for at least 48 hours, which is impossible while managing burns at home.

The severity of the burn doesn’t matter when it comes to diagnosis and treatment. Even minor burns should be appropriately treated, as the wound can complicate things if not managed or contained. So, follow the steps mentioned previously to ensure proper outpatient management.

Minor Burns and Outpatient Management

Medical professionals recommend outpatient management to treat small or minor burns, so he’s laid down some rules to help you determine if you qualify for this treatment. Burns cover less than 10% of an adult’s body or 5% of a child’s.

• Full-thickness burns covering less than 1% of the victim’s body
• Victims who don’t have more than two diseases simultaneously

Let’s look at when you should change your burns dressings if you’re under outpatient management.

When Should I Change Dressings for My Burn?

Healthcare professionals recommend aseptic techniques when hanging dressings for burns to avoid further contamination or build-up of bacteria. This is why a victim must change the burn dressing after the first 48 hours following the burn incident and then every 5 days until the wound is Healed. You can change the intervals to an earlier time if you find the wound requires a dressing, and for that, you can look out for the following signs:

• Smelly wound
• Soiled dressing
• Contaminated dressing
• Slipped dressing
• Infection (a fever is a good indicator of an infection starting.).

Now, let’s look at how you can change your burn injury wound dressing the right way.

How Do I Change My Burn Injury Wound Dressing?

Here are the steps to follow to change the burn injury wound dressing.

• Monitor the burn injury, depending on the injury and the dressing. If it is entirely soaked, you may need to change the wound dressing after the first 24 hours.
• After 48 hours, remove your dressing and assess your burn wounds to see if it is making any positive progress. You can use topical agents like flamazine during this stage.
• Victims using flamazine to treat their wounds must wash them every few days and reapply the medicine to keep it fresh and uncontaminated.
• Change the dressing if it becomes smelly, contaminated, or completely soaked from the fluid developing in the burn wounds.

Knowing the right way to clean burns is essential, so let’s review the recommended practices.

How Do I Clean My Burns?

Other burns require different cleaning methods and techniques to ensure quick healing progress. Assessing the burns is the first step to identifying what kind of burn you must adopt and implementing the appropriate cleaning methods.

How Do I Clean My Facial Burn?

Here is what you should do if you have facial burns.

• Flamazine: Flamazine is a cream that removes bacteria from wounds. After the initial burn management stage, victims can start using it to clean their burns and improve the healing process. Daily Face Burn Management: The face is one of the body’s most sensitive parts, and following the proper face management techniques during burns can improve the cosmetic outlook. Victims of face burns should wash their face with dilute chlorhexidine solution twice a day as it aids in wound healing. Using the undiluted solution will stop the healing process and worsen the wound. Victims need to ensure their faces are entirely relaxed during sleep without any pressure applied to them. They also need to ensure that their head is not wholly laid flat, so using two pillows to elevate the face will provide sufficient relief during sleep.
• Pruritis: Post-burn pruritus occurs during the healing stage and is quite common. Victims must massage their face burns with aloe vera to get immediate relief from itching, as itching can worsen the burn. Taking antihistamines can calm things down a bit.

How Long Until My Burn Injury Heals?

The burns should heal in three weeks; if they do not recover, it is best to contact a plastic surgeon to examine the wounds. Use moisturizers to avoid dry, scaly scales, and apply sunblock when going out for at least six months to protect the skin from the sun.

Why Trust Us With Your Burn Claim?

Ehline Law is a personal injury law firm on a mission to protect the rights of Americans. Michael Ehline, Founder of Ehline Law, was a former US Marine trial lawyer serving the country.

After an honorable discharge, Ehline served the United States citizens once more through his private legal practice. Compassion and care are at the core of Ehline Law, which is why we have had phenomenal success, with over 3,000 clients recovering over $150 million in compensation.

Our Los Angeles burn injury lawyers have the right experience to assess your case, determine your claims, collect evidence to prove negligence and ensure swift recovery so that you don’t have to shoulder medical costs due to someone else’s negligence.

Where Can I Get Free Legal Advice From A Burn Injury Lawyer Near Me?

Ehline Law has over 15 law offices across California, servicing areas like Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and nearby cities. If you or your loved one has gotten burn injuries due to someone else’s fault, contact us at (213) 596-9642 and get a free consultation today without any legal obligations to continue!

Our Los Angeles burn injury lawyers will assess your case and give you free legal advice to help you move forward. We also work on a no-win, no-fee basis, meaning we don’t get paid unless we win your case. Call us now for more information, or visit any of our prestigious law offices for more details.

Burn injuries affect all types of individuals. However, young children and older people are more prone to getting burned than others due to their sensitive skin. Burn injuries can occur by getting in contact with boiling liquids, hot objects, chemicals, electricity, cold, heat, fire, and friction, among many others.

Burn injuries can lead to permanent scarring, with severe cases requiring skin graft surgery. The tragedy is that individuals can avoid burn injuries by taking precautions and ensuring compliance with safety regulations (having a fire extinguisher) put forward by the state and local laws.

Contact Ehline Law and our Los Angeles burn injury attorneys to evaluate your case if you’ve got burn injuries.

Immediate Burn Treatment: Step-by-Step Guide

If you’ve gotten burned, following the steps below immediately can reduce the pain and severity of the burn:

1. Immediately run the burn wound under tap water (ensure the water temperature is cool rather than cold, as the wound can risk hypothermia) for about 20 minutes. Many victims run the wound under tap water for a few seconds before panicking and heading to the hospital. This doesn’t seem right, as the wound can burn if not washed correctly. Avoid using ice to prevent burns, as ice can cause further blistering, worsening the burn wounds.
2. Remove clothing from the burned area after washing the wounds. Leaving burned clothes on the skin can irritate, but avoid removing the clothing if it is stuck to the skin. Pulling or jerking on it can remove the layer of the skin, further worsening the wounds.
3. Use a sterile cloth or a sterile gauze pad to clean the wound. If it is oozing, seek medical help immediately. You don’t want an infection to start, as it can further complicate things.
4. Consult a physician if the burn sensation remains after a few hours following the burn injury. Avoid using any home remedies on the burn wound, such as butter, grease, and others, as they can worsen the damage.
5. Wash chemical burns immediately and contact the Poison Helpline at 1-800-222-1222 or your physician.

Protect Young Children and Your Family with Burn Safety Precautions

Burn injuries are easily avoidable by taking preventable safety measures to avoid any worse situations in case of fire breakouts.

Here is how you can safeguard your family from any fire hazards:

• According to state laws, rental homes and apartment buildings must have fire alarms to alarm residents in case of fire breakouts. Modern alarms with long-lasting batteries in your apartment, especially in the kitchen, can help prevent fire incidents involving residents.
• Start practicing fire drills at home to ensure the family, including the kids, are ready for any adverse event or a fire spread.
• Keep all flammable liquids and materials away from home. When in contact with the fire, these can cause a tremendous explosion, resulting in more devastating damage.
• Cover unused electrical outlets to avoid electrical burns if the children try to plug things into them or even their fingers.

Burn Safety Outdoors Precautions

There are also outdoor burn hazards for which you need to take precautions, and these include:

• Do not allow your children near grills, campfires, or fire pits, as they can cause nasty burns.
• In the United States, temperatures can soar, resulting in high temperatures in parked cars. Before placing your children or baby in the vehicle, ensure that the seat belt and the seats are not hot; if they are, place a towel before placing your child.
• Avoid using fireworks. Even if you do it in a safe and controlled environment, your children might learn how to use it and go about using it when not supervised, which can be a considerable danger.

Scalding Burns and Hot Foods

Scald burns are different from fire burns as they happen when the skin comes into contact with hot liquids like boiling water from a water heater, tea, coffee, etc. Surprisingly, more than 30% of the cases that make it to a burn center in the United States are scald injuries. It is not unheard of for mothers to carry hot beverages and their babies to cause scald injuries when an incident occurs.

Tips on Dealing with Hot Food with Children Around

To avoid getting scald injuries, here are the five tips we recommend to families to ensure the safety of themselves and their loved ones:

1. Never let your children near the oven or wherever you are cooking. Kids’ curious natures can lead to them touching hot objects. Ensure that you test food temperature before feeding your children.
2. Start using back burners, as they do not have handles, keeping them out of sight from young kids in the house.
3. When cooking, move all the pots and pans containing the hot food to the middle of the kitchen counter rather than its edges. This will prevent kids from pulling on the utensils and burning themselves with hot liquid.
4. Warming baby food in a microwave is not advised, as the microwave unevenly heats the food. The food might look cold outside, but it could be bubbling hot inside. Instead, heat food for your babies using hot water.
5. Keep oven mitts in the kitchen at all times.

How to Prevent Scalds in the Bathroom

There are specific steps one should take to avoid any scald injuries during bath times, and these can include the following:

• Ensure your water heater is at 120 degrees Fahrenheit; anything above this number can easily result in scald injuries if exposed for too long.
• Check the bath water temperature before letting your children bathe or placing your baby in it. Kids and babies are more sensitive to hot temperatures than adults, and if you feel that the water is not too hot, it might be for the children; hence, check the water temperature.
• Water faucets are usually hot if the hot water has been running through them, so it is best to place your child away from the water faucet to avoid touching it.

When dealing with kids, the main concern is that they don’t realize their boundaries and let their curiosity get the best of them. Parents must establish “No Go Zones” in the house where kids don’t have access or can’t reach. For example, the radius around space heaters and fireplaces is a no-zone area for young children.

When Is Hospitalization Necessary for Burn Injuries?

Not all burn injuries require hospitalization, as minor burn injury victims can recover at home. However, those facing severe injuries can lead to complications. Hence, it is best to get hospitalized to receive medical attention immediately.

Here are a few situations that may require hospitalization:

1. Third-degree burns
2. More than 10% of the body gets burned
3. Burns on the face, hand, genitals, or moving joints
4. Young children.

Contact Our California Burn Injury Attorneys for Your Case Today

Have you gotten burn injuries that were not your fault? Is your loved one hurt due to someone else’s negligence? Contact us at (213) 596-9642 and get a free consultation with our California burn injury lawyers today. Our attorneys are personal injury experts and can help determine the cause of the incident, investigate and collect evidence, and help you establish a personal injury case to get the compensation you deserve. Call us now for more information on how we can help you.

Citations:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Treating-and-Preventing-Burns.aspx

https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/DDA/dda/documents/Caregiver%20Alert%20Template%20-%20Hot.pdf

https://www.thesilverlining.com/westbendcares/blog/five-tips-to-prevent-burns-and-scalds-in-your-family

A burn injury can be due to electricity, chemicals, lightning, and fire, resulting in severe burns to the victim or their loved ones].

Superficial burns, superficial partial burns, and third-degree burns are the three most common types of burn injuries, and these major burn injuries determine the burn injury recovery process.

Let’s explore the healing process of getting healthy skin when a victim receives severe burns.

How Does Burn Injury Heal?

Just as cuts take a few days to heal, minor burn injuries also require a few days to get healed skin back. However, severe types of burn injuries can result in burned skin requiring skin grafts, extensive and expensive surgery, and prolonged medical burn care.

What to Expect During the Burn Recovery Process?

Scars

First-degree burns leave burn patients with scars that may take a few days to heal back to normal. However, second-degree burns and third-degree burns require a few months. Severe burns in the joints or near that area may restrict movement in those areas, and physical therapy may be needed to regain some movement.

Burn Wounds Start to Close

When severe burns occur, and the skin has lost its healing properties, the wound may take some time to heal. During this process, the human body closes the wound by pulling on the skin nearby. Victims can start to notice the shrinkage of the wound as time goes on. However, that area might have movement restrictions, requiring rehabilitation therapy.

Regrowth of Nerves

Depending on the type of burn, the nerves in the area can get destroyed, resulting in no sensation or feeling. Nerves do grow back, but this is a slow process, and it’ll take some time before they do. However, you may not be able to recover sensations in those areas.

Itching and Abnormal Sweating

Due to the burn injury, sweat glands and blood vessels face damage and are further affected by the scar tissues. This results in inoperable sweat glands, resulting in dryness, but as the burn injuries heal, there is excessive itching and abnormal sweating.

Skin Condition

Upon being burned, the skin turns red and inflamed, with swelling and blisters. However, the skin can heal itself, and it takes around 12 to 18 months, depending on the severity of the injury and the success of the skin graft surgery, for the skin to fade back to its normal color.

Eat Well to Heal Burn Injuries

Not many people pay attention to this, but having a well-balanced diet is the fastest road to recovery from burn injuries. Your body requires substantial amounts of protein and more calories during the healing process, and the victim must talk to a nutritionist about it. Keeping their eating habits in mind, a nutritionist can create a well-rounded diet plan to ensure a speedy recovery.

Rehabilitation for Severe Burns

Therapy and rehabilitation are also huge parts of the recovery process. Many believe that physical wounds impact an individual, but for a human to recover, they need to be in the right state of mind.

Psychological effects of a burn include anxiety, stress, and depression. Going to rehab or being part of a social group or burn team can help improve the victim’s mental health and ensure a fast recovery.

If you’ve gotten burned and it wasn’t your fault, Contact Ehline Law and our burn injury lawyers at (213) 596-9642 and get a free case review on your burn injuries.

Citations:

https://www.healthpartners.com/care/hospitals/regions/specialties/burn-center/healing/

https://msktc.org/burn/factsheets/Understanding_Burn_Injury