Burns in children

If the child is burned, do the following:

• Immediately immerse the burned area of ​​ in cold water for at least twenty minutes. In addition to the fact that water relieves pain, it cools the affected skin and reduces its damage. Do not use ice, which causes even greater damage to the skin. If a burn is on your face, apply a cold, ice-toweled towel or hold your cheek under a stream of cold water. Do not grease the burned area with butter, grease and do not sprinkle with talc.

• If the clothing on the child is burning, put out the fire with a towel, blanket, coat or own clothes.

• Quickly remove any burnt or soaked boiling water, but be careful not to touch the child's face when pulling the hot shirt over your head. Cut the clothes if necessary.

• Estimate the severity of the burn. If there is only redness and no blisters, hold the affected area in cold water for as long as the baby can stand. Do not tie a burn and watch for changes.

• If the skin becomes blistered, white or charred, apply an antiseptic ointment and cover the burn with a clean cloth or bandage( not with adhesive tape).Call a doctor or take the baby to an emergency room.

• It is necessary not only to hold the burned area in cold water, but also to give the child acetaminophen.

Treatment of burns is aimed at relieving pain and preventing inflammation, disfiguring scars and constriction( reducing the area of ​​damaged tissues in the process of recovery).In addition to what the doctor will advise you, in most cases, the treatment of burns is in the following daily rituals.

Flush. Rinse the burned area under a stream of lukewarm water and dry with a clean towel. A jet of water washes away pathogenic microorganisms and dead tissue.

Apply ointment against burns. Cover the affected area with a prescription ointment( a combination of silver compounds and sulfonamide antibiotics), which accelerates healing and prevents infection.

Bandage. Your doctor will instruct you whether to cover the affected area with ointment alone( and how to do it) or whether you need to cover the burn with a non-adhesive gasket and bandage.

Stretch. If the burn is on a site that bends and unbends, for example, in the palm of your hand or around the joints of your fingers, stretch the affected area for one minute at least ten times a day to prevent contraction.

Sanitate. To minimize infection, it may be necessary for your doctor to cut the burned tissue several times during healing( this procedure is called sanation, or surgical treatment of the wound), or it will show you how to conduct this small surgery yourself, which is notIt is more difficult than cutting your fingernails. Do not puncture the blisters, with natural protection, unless advised by your doctor.

With careful care, burned baby skin is restored remarkably well, without scars, unless there are deep or extensive damages.

Burns with electric trauma

Electric trauma can not only cause more burns than digging with boiling water - an electric current can disrupt the normal rhythm of the heartbeat. Touching low-level power line wires is an extremely dangerous occurrence that requires urgent medical attention and even resuscitation. If a child thrust a curious finger into an electrical outlet, it usually gets only a small blow, so as not to do so in the future.

Chemical burns( alkali and acid burns)

Place the burned area for twenty minutes under a stream of cold water. Remove clothing soaked with chemicals from your child, being very careful not to irritate other areas of the skin. If necessary, cut the clothes with scissors or leave the clothes if you can not remove it without risking the child. For example, you do not need to remove a T-shirt filled with bleach through the child's head. Wash the contaminated area with soap and water, but do not scrub the fabric strongly, otherwise an even more toxic substance can be absorbed into the skin. If at least some amount of poisoning substance has been inhaled or swallowed, immediately call a toxicological service and give the child the antidote indicated on the chemical package or give him a drink as much water as possible. If the chemical has got into your eyes, rinse your eyes for twenty minutes with a powerful jet of water from the jug.

Treatment of sunburns

If the skin is only slightly red and the child does not feel uncomfortable, no treatment is required. In more severe cases, try the following remedies:

• If the skin is very red and the baby cries, immerse the affected area in cold water or apply a towel soaked in cold water for at least four times a day for at least fifteen minutes. Leave some water on the skin, so that the skin is cooled by evaporation.

• Lubricate with a moisturizing lotion, without petroleum jelly or other refined products, several times a day( for example, lotion with aloe).

• If the skin becomes blistered, consult a doctor for a prescription for ointment;this is a second degree burn, and the treatment should be carried out according to the instructions given above.

• For pain relief, give acetaminophen.