How To Quickly Treat a Child With a Second Degree Burn
Just so people dont get confused, this post really has nothing to do with the previous post. Although my last post dealt with fire safety, the burns sustained in a house fire a generally more severe than the most common burns sustained in the average home which are generally referred to as second degree burns.
To give you a quick background into burn ratings, first degree burns are just on the top layer of the skin. A good example of a first degree burn is a sunburn. A second degree burn involves the first two layers of skin and will often result in the skin turning white with varying amounts of blistering. In the home, this type of burn is generally caused by scalding hot water, minimal fire contact, and contact with burning hot items such as pans, burners. Third degree burns are the last type and they are the most serious as they involve all layers of skin, muscle, and tissue. These type of burns are extremely uncommon to happen in the home unless when dealing with a large-scale home fire.
So here’s the scenario. You are making scrabbled eggs on a skillet and when they are done cooking, you remove the skillet off the burner to place the eggs on a plate. Just then you hear a shriek and turn around to see your 2yr old holding their hand up in the air screaming in pain. As it seems, your child placed her hand on the burner just as you turned around to dump the eggs on a plate. Another similar scenario would involve you spilling hot tea on your childs arm.
In both cases, the burn would result in either a minor or major second degree burn but would involve the same treatment.
So here’s how to quickly treat a second degree burn:
- Quickly place the burned area under cool (but not cold) water for roughly 10 - 45 minutes. This helps in stopping the burning process, reducing the blistering, and most importantly easing the pain.
- Gently dry the burned area and apply Polysporin Triple Action with pain relief or similar to help treat the burn and prevent infection.
- Wrap the burned area with gauze.
- Give the child either Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Advil (ibuprofen) or both to deal with the pain.
- Seek medical attention.
Many parents who I have spoken with regarding the above treatment have told me that they knew this information only after having to deal with a similar situation above. The important component about the treatment is to get the burn under cool water right away. Don’t think about it. Just get the burn under cool water.
If the child has sustained a second degree burn to a larger area of the body making it harder to submerge under cool water then one option would be to wrap the burn area with a sheet and pour cool water over it (the sheet) until paramedics arrive. This would cool down the burn but more importantly, it would relieve the pain.
This post was submitted to the July 2 Issue of the Carnival of Family Life hosted over at LittleMummy.com
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:46 am
[...] Husbandhood advises on How To Treat a Second Degree Burn [...]
July 2nd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Hey another great post. I sort of knew this but its good that you pointed out that not to think about it and just do it. People get caught up in thinking about waht to do.
July 4th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
thanks for the compliment.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[...] If the child has sustained a second degree burn to a larger area of the body making it harder to submerge under cool water then one option would be to wrap the burn area with a sheet and pour cool water over it (the sheet) until paramedics arrive. This would cool down the burn but more importantly, it would relieve the pain. This article was originally published on my parenting blog at Husbandhood.net [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
my daughter has second degree sunbrurn and is MISERABLE. i need some help!!!!!!!!!
May 26th, 2008 at 1:13 am
What part of the body? Sunburns can be quite painful there isnt much you could but apply a topical pain relief cream. You could also try ibuprofen and tylenol combo to help deal with the pain. Try giving her tylenol/tempra every four hours and interchange it with advil every six hours. So two hours after giving her tylenol you give advil then two hours after giving her advil you would give her tylenol.
Tylenol is spaced out every four hours whereas advil is usually spaced out every six hours. Since they can both be taken at the same time people who are experiencing a lot of pain will spread them out so that they are taking something every two hours as apposed to every 4-6 hours.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:36 am
I am not exactly a child, but I am 11 years old and have a minor second degree burn on both of my shoulders. Last summer, I was pushing a third degree burn and it hurt to get it wet. Now that I have a less severe burn, I am still just as scared to take a bath, shower, or get in the pool. Help me get over my fear!!
July 14th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Have a 4-year-old who decided to see what it would be like to squeeze the sparkler wire right after it got done sparkling. Needless to day, we have a little problem. 2nd degree burns at the tip of his thumb, and 2 fingers. Went straight to the sink for cold water for 30 minutes. Still a lot of screaming/pain. Went to the store and found the following at CVS:
1. Burn Jel PLUS Water*Jel with Lidocaine HCL 2.5%.
2. Johnson&Johnson First Aid Instant Burn Cooling Patches.
Put the jel on, followed by the burn patches (they work like a bandaid) and *POOF* Instant quiet!! WOW!! He’s talking and very calm right now. This BurnJel stuff says its used by the military. I can see why! NOTE: The burn patches by J&J were on clearance (50% 0ff), so they may not be available next time you try and buy them. There were other patches there, but these were cheaper so I went with them. They have a “hydrogel” pad you apply to the burn. Look for something similar.
July 17th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi Randy, thanks for commenting. Water Jel or similar product for cooling down burns is great. I bought a couple of packages and added them to my first aid kit. They provide similar relief to the the burn sheet example (wrap the burn area with a sheet and pour cool water over it) I mentioned at the end of the post.
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:30 am
Hi i have a 2 and half year old daughter i was doing my hair with a traight iron. she burn a small part of her arm . is red on the area.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:11 am
A student said you can use plastic wrap on a burn to prevent blistering. This doesn’t make sense to me….she said it works. What do you say? Should it be a possible treatment?
February 8th, 2009 at 11:23 am
My son 22 months old burned his thumb and pointer finger today, on a hot pan. The thumb has a whiteish blister on it, but he won;t let me put anything on it. He takes the bandaids off and the burn cream I bought only stays on for a couple of seconds before he rubs it off on his clothes. What else can I do..?
April 10th, 2009 at 4:14 am
My friends 2 yr. old son grabbed a hot iron that her boyfriend left on. The friend was in the kitchen and cooking. All of a sudden she heard horrific screams only to find out he picked up and held the iron in his hand, which is not all blistered (the majority of it). She took him straight to the ER and the lady applied ointment but told her NOT to wrap the burn with blisters. But here you mention TO wrap it. Well eventually she did wrap it at home and her son just took the wrap off. He’s been in pain for hours. She emailed this to me so I don’t know if she put his hand under cold water or not….but I’ll definately suggest the burn patches….any ideas on why the ER told her NOT to wrap it?
April 16th, 2009 at 2:40 am
I don’t know why an ER person would say not to wrap, but that seems like extremely bad advice to me. You don’t want the blisters to pop exposed to everything. Preventing infection is very important. If it is white it is a third degree burn, if it blisters it is second degree.
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Hey everyone… Well here is my story, My little 15 month old put the palm his hand on a stove burner. I ran it under cold water, did the aloe thing, neosporan etc. When I saw the blistering I took him to my pediatrician. He told me it was a 2nd degree burn, gave me some really good ointment and showed me how to wrap and tape the area so that he would leave it alone. The doctor told me they dont pop the blisters then let that happen naturally, and once it did they would trim the excess skin. I have to take him for a follow up in 2 days because of the location it may require further attention. Please dont sit home and think your toddler will be just fine if they get hurt. There skin is so much more delicate than adults. I felt like an awful parent and was so upset with myself that within a split moment something like this happened. I cried, literally. Accidents happen that doesnt make you a bad parent– not seeking medical treatment on the other hand….And if the medical treatment you get dont seem right, get a second opinion.
Take care, and know God loves u.
May 24th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Hi Lisa,
My apologies. I only noticed now that you posted a comment. As for a burn, these are the protocols for First Aid. It is possible that once you go to the hospital they may provide you with advice contrary to what you learned in a first aid course. This is common as first aid is designed to provide immediate medical attention to an injured person until they get to an ER. Now in this case I dont know why the nurse told you friend not to wrap it. When our daughter burned her hand the advice from our pediatrician was to keep it wrapped for several days. As Verity stated, you would not want the blisters exposed as she has stated above. As for the pain, you friend should have given her child something for the pain. Tylenol (acetaminophen) AND Advil (ibuprofen) if the pain is great. Also the topical cream should have pain relief in it.
May 24th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Renee,
Sorry to hear about your son. It seems your story is very identical to mine. And in your case your Pediatrician also told you to keep it wrapped for several days.
Hope he feels better.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:31 am
My son 2.5 years old was burnt by hot water on (2nd degree burn) the left side of his body. we immediately apply aloe vera on the wounds n seek immediatel medical attention.
I do not know if the scar after two weeks of recovery is going to be permanent. His wound was washed with saline water n wrap. No need for any any medicated cream as advised by doctor. Would the new skin eventually be the same as the old skin.
Could someone suffering the same fate as my son please let me know. Thank you.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:28 am
My son grabbed the iron, it was unplugged but still very hot. He palmed it and we did running water first aid and then off to emergency room it started to blister..h