Anatomy of a Burn as Perceived by the Patient

I reached for the electric plug from the wrong side. A careless move that caused a steam burn on my arm. Never reach across an electric boiling steam kettle on the spout side, always unplug from handle side.

*Never unplug boiling water kettle from this side.*

*This is the side to unplug a boiling water kettle*.

Any thinking person knows this. Obviously I was not thinking at that hot second. That non-thinking moment caused a nice first-degree burn on my arm. As our son-in-law succinctly says: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes”. That I did.

*I ran it under cold water first thing.*

*Nice sized first degree burn in an inconvenient place.*

Immediate first aid was running it under cold water. This helps relieve some of the heat and pain. It had a pretty mean sting to it for sure. Afterwards I spread honey over the burn for relief. Our honey is local which makes it all the better. It is also an analgesic, and an antiseptic, and sticky. Air can further irritate a burn, the honey helped keep air off. Do you know honey is the only know food that never goes bad? Amazing.

*Local honey spread over the burn, after running cold water* *over it, helped relieve the pain.*

*Shirt sleeves caused the tender, new skin to peel. It was not a blister. A blister from a burn is a second degree burn.*

Although the photos make it look as if a blister came up on the burn, it did not. Long sleeved shirts irritated the tender new skin, and it peeled. This was the hardest part of the healing process, as it was quite tender. The sleeve needed to stay rolled up. Problems presented themselves when I had to go out in public. This is when I bandaged the wound to protect it from the sleeve and being out in public without being exposed. Sleeping was a bit of an issue as well. It seemed no matter where I placed my arm, the sheets would aggravate it. I did not want it covered at night as it needed air to help the healing process.

*I bandaged it when going out in public.*

It took a full two weeks to heal. And here is the best indication of a wound healing—it starts to itch. It is now only a pink patch on my arm. Because we are in winter, I am not concerned for it getting too much sun. However, if it were summer, I would be very careful about the amount of sun this new tender skin could get.

I grew up in an era where First Aid was a required class to take in high school. It is no longer taught in school to my knowledge. We were given an excellent First Aid book that I still own and refer to often. I know methods of first aid has changed much, but in my little mind, a burn is still a burn, a broken bone is still a broken bone, and a splinter is still and splinter, and good, basic first aid should be known well by every one of us.