What should I do if my hand is scalded by boiling water?

In daily life, hands are not only scalded by hot water, but sometimes they can also be scalded by accidentally touching high-temperature objects. Burns should be treated immediately and the burned area should be well cared for. If the burn is serious, seek medical attention immediately. Now let's take a look at what to do after being scalded by boiling water!

What to do if you are scalded by boiling water

Keep away from heat

First, quickly move away from the heat source and carefully take off the clothes on the burned area to expose the wound. If the clothes are stuck to the skin and cannot be taken off, you can cut them open with scissors. Do not take them off forcibly to avoid damaging the wound.

Cooling and heat dissipation

There will be a lot of residual heat in the wound after a burn or scald, which needs to be cooled and dissipated, otherwise it will burn the deep skin and cause deeper burns. You can use edible white wine (20-50 degree white wine, not alcohol) or the second rice washing water (use purified water or cold boiled water to wash rice, and use the second rice washing water) to rinse the wound to cool it down. You can also soak cotton wool in white wine and apply it to the affected area to cool it down. This can quickly absorb the residual heat from the burn, relieve pain and prevent blistering.

Blister treatment

The blisters caused by burns need to be pricked, otherwise they are prone to purulent infection and will also affect the wound's absorption of drugs, which is not conducive to wound recovery. Use a sterilized needle to prick small blisters at a low position to drain the water; for large blisters, use sterilized scissors to cut an opening and drain the water. After the blister is pricked, do not cut off the blister skin, and certainly not tear it off with your hands. The blister skin can protect the wound and prevent infection and inflammation.

Wound medicine

After the blisters are pricked, medication should be applied to the burn area. It is recommended to use professional burn medicine that has the effects of removing pus and pus, repairing tissue, promoting tissue growth and healing wounds, enhancing immunity, clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, reducing swelling and relieving pain. It is mainly used to treat burns and skin ulcers. If there is no burn medicine, you can apply aloe vera juice evenly on the injured area to relieve pain and provide certain treatment. Try not to bandage the wound after applying medicine. If it must be bandaged, use clean and sterilized gauze. Do not bandage it too thickly or tightly, and pay attention to air permeability, otherwise it will affect the wound recovery speed and cause the burn to be difficult to heal for a long time.

If the burn area is too large and the degree is deep, the wound should be treated urgently and sent to the hospital for treatment immediately.

What to do if your hands are scalded by boiling water

Once your hands are scalded, rinse and soak the injured area with tap water immediately for about 15 minutes. At the same time, take off your clothes in time to minimize the harm of burns.

It is worth noting that clothes must not be taken off forcibly to avoid aggravating skin damage. You can cut off the clothes around the burn first.

Do not apply so-called folk remedies, such as toothpaste, soy sauce, etc., to the wound surface casually. Doing so will not only affect the doctor's judgment of the condition, but also cause infection of the wound surface. In short, after a burn, you should immediately go to a specialist hospital for diagnosis and treatment to avoid delays and adverse consequences.

After a scald, the scalded area should be immersed in clean cold water immediately. The sooner you soak in cold water after a scald, the better the effect will be. The lower the water temperature, the better the effect, but it cannot be lower than -6℃. Soaking in cold water should generally last more than half an hour. This can reduce pain or burns by dissipating heat in time.

If the burn is not serious (referring to first-degree burns with redness of the burn surface but no blisters), it can usually be treated at home. Rinse and clean the wound with cold boiled water (or light salt water). You can apply comfrey oil or burn ointment and wrap it with gauze.

Those with severe burns should go to the hospital immediately.

For mild burns, after cleaning the wound and applying medicine, there is no need to bandage it. This will leave the wound exposed to the air, keep it dry, and speed up its recovery.

For serious burns, as shock may occur at any time, the patient should be sent to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

If the child has a fever, the local pain worsens, and pus is discharged, it means that the wound has become infected and inflamed, and a doctor should be sought promptly.

What to do if your feet are scalded by boiling water

If your feet are scalded, don't panic or rush to take off thin clothes such as stockings. Instead, rinse them with cold water immediately. Wait until it cools down before you can carefully take off your underwear to avoid tearing the blisters formed by the burn.

The purpose of cold water flushing is to relieve pain, reduce exudation and swelling, and thus avoid or reduce blister formation. The flushing time should be about half an hour or more, until you no longer feel pain when you stop flushing. The general water temperature is about 20℃. Avoid using ice water to avoid frostbite.

After cold water treatment, wipe the wound dry, then apply a thin layer of blue oil hydrocarbon, green ointment or other ointment medicines, and then bandage it appropriately for 1-2 days to prevent blisters. If blisters are formed, you can use a sterile syringe to suck out the water or cut a small hole to release the water; if the blisters are broken, wipe them dry with a sterile cotton ball to keep them dry and prevent the water from accumulating into lumps.

The scab will fall off and heal in about 10 days. If it does not heal by then, you should ask your doctor to see if it is due to a deep burn or infection. Antibiotics are generally not used after burns. If the wound is still red and swollen and the pain worsens after 1-2 days, there is suspected infection. Treatment can be sought under the guidance of a doctor to avoid unnecessary pain.

After a burn, avoid applying gentian violet or mercurochrome to avoid affecting the observation of changes in the wound.

Large or severe burns should be sent to the hospital immediately after general emergency care at home.

Note: The folk saying that you should soak in soy sauce after being scalded is wrong, because soy sauce itself contains a large number of bacteria, which is not conducive to heat dissipation and can easily cause wound infection. Do not apply toothpaste after burns.