Scar Less Healing.com Skin Burns and Treatments
A burn is an injury that damages and destroys skin layers. It can be caused by a number of things including exposure to heat, electricity, chemicals, radiation or frostbite. Burns usually occur due to one of the following reasons:
Scalds - Scalds are the most regular cause of burns. They occur when skin comes into contact with hot liquids. Scalds with hot oil tend to be more severe than those with hot water. This is because hot oil heats to higher temperatures than water, and is alot thicker thus remaning on the skin for longer. Similarly, covered areas of skin can yield severe burns because clothing retains heat, keeping scalding liquid in contact with the skin longer. Even steam can cause a severe scalding injury.
Thermal - Flame is the next most typical cause of burn injuries. Likely sources include careless smoking, improper use of flammable liquids, auto accidents or clothing ignited by stoves or space heaters. Flash follows closely behind flame with injuries from natural gas explosions, propane and gasoline. Flash flames can cause intense heat over a brief time. Clothing, unless ignited, usually protects skin in this type of burn.
Chemical -Most often, chemical burns occur during industrial accidents, but they can also occur in the home with common battery acids, oils and gases. Chemical burns can cause progressive damage until the chemical is inactivated. The severity of this type of burn depends on the kind of chemical, length of exposure and amount of tissue involved.
Contact -Many burns are caused by contact with hot objects such as metal, plastic, glass and hot coals.
Ultraviolet -Severe burns can result from overexposure to sun or tanning equipment.
Electrical -Contact with live wires or unprotected electrical outlets can also cause burn injuries. The intensity of the electrical current and the duration of exposure determines the severity of these types of burns.
Inhalation Injury -This injury occurs when someone is trapped in an enclosed space with toxic gas or fumes from a fire or chemical leak. These gases can produce a chemical burn causing an inflammatory response to a person's respiratory system. Initially inhalation injuries may be masked by other outer burns, however, damage may appear within two to 48 hours after a burn injury.
Severity of Burns
The severity of a burn depends on how deeply it has affected the skin tissue. The three categories of burn injuries are: superficial, partial thickness and full thickness. These were previously referred to as first, second and third-degree burns. The size of the body area burned also helps classify a burn as a minor or major injury. A severe burn may also involve initial as well as delayed injury.
Superficial or First Degree Burns
A first degree burn is limited to the epidermis - it only affects the surface of the skin. It is characterized by reddening of the burned surface followed by heat, pain and moistening. It rarely shows blistering or charring of tissue. First degree burns often heal in three to seven days and rarely scar. A common cause of this type of burn is too much exposure to sunlight and minor scalds.
Partial Thickness or Second Degree
Burns Sometimes referred to as partial thickness burns, second degree burns are characterized as either "superficial" or "deep." Both types penetrate deeper than a first degree burn and destroy the epidermal layers, extending into the dermis layer. They can cause damage to sweat glands and hair follicles and are extremely painful, often with intense swelling.
Skin that has incurred a superficial second degree burn is moist, red and weepy. Most superficial second degree burns heal in 10 to 21 days, but leave a change in skin color. A deep second degree burn can be ivory or pearly white in color and may require a process known as debridement and additional skin grafting treatments. Full Thickness / Third Degree
Burns A third degree burn-also known as a full thickness burn-destroys all of the epidermal and dermal skin layers. The tissue damage extends below hair follicles and sweat glands to subcutaneous (fat) tissue. With this severe degree of burn the skin becomes leathery and often appeares depressed to sourrounding skin tissue. Massive swelling may result after this type of burn. The skin can be bright red, white, tan or brown and there are no blisters. Perhaps surprisingly, third degree burns are usually not painful because the injury has destroyed nerve endings. Other replacement options, such as skin grafting, may be recommended.
When the burn extends deep enough to involve muscle, bone, tendon and/or ligament amputation may be required. Commonly classified as a fourth degree burn, this type of injury may even be life threatening. |
