3d ago

What things should I do if I spilled a small amount of scalding water from a kettle on my arm?

I've moistutized it and wearing long-sleeves but I've never done that before so what can I expect in terms of healing time, process?

Edit: bought and applied contininy doses of Polysporin as pharm recommended until i can see my dr

22 comments

Keep it under running water for ½ an hour, at the level that is the most comfortable.
Don't make it too cold, but cold enough to ease the burning sensation.
If the pain stops before ½ an hour, you can stop.
- I've read that thing about running water before, and I've always wondered - is it really expected that you run the tap for 30 min.? I know it's for the good of the skin, and super important, but I always struggle with running the tap for that long.
  
  If you are burning yourself often enough that it's impacting your water bill, you're worrying about the wrong thing.
  
  When I did my first aid training they explained that the deeper layers of the skin were still burning if you don't cool the burn long enough so in order for the cold water to be effective, you need to cool it down for ages. Maybe not 30 minutes, although it depends on the severity of the burn.
  I actually put that to the test, I kind of burn myself regularly cause I'm a clumsy oaf. One time I put my wrist under cold running water for 10 mins, and there was no blister in sight the next day!
  
  Depending on where the burn is you can just put the burnt part in a container with cool water instead. It's much more practical to walk around with your hand in a cup than to be standing next to the faucet.
  
  I've always heard about 10 minutes should be sufficient.
Immediately after the burn, run it under cool-lukewarm water. Not cold, not hot. You may or may not get a blister. If you do, don't pop it. Simply bandage it with nonstick wraps, the liquid in the blister helps your skin heal. If it pops treat it like an open wound. Aloe is good to use. It can sting like shit if the burn is too fresh, but does help after. Better yet is an aloe based burn gel. After initial healing, keep it moisturised as you said.
Not a doctor or medical person, but I am a very experienced fire performer and have tended to all sorts of burns.
Add celery, onion and a potato.
What that other person said about water.
On top of that, you'll know the severity of the burn in a few hours. Most likely a light 1st degree burn (red itchy skin), at worst a light 2nd degree (blistering).
If it remains just red, treat it with some ointment (Bepanthen is my go-to). Be sure to keep it clean. Some minor blistering might occur, which is fine if it's not bothersome. If blistering becomes severe, cover with wet bandages and see a doctor.
Do not scratch!
Once you've cooled it and applied polysporin, you should put a bandage to keep from smearing off all the polysporin onto your clothes and keep it clean. If you don't have a bandage that clean long sleeve will do, but it might get a greasy mark you'll need to treat later for laundry: try rubbing in a dab of Dawn before laundering it.
Bear in mind, it may randomly start hurting and feeling burny again later, because the nerve endings hate burns. Cold water will help again. Fridge temp is fine, helps numb it without causing ice damage.
If you have a true Aloe vera at home, cut one leave of it about the length you need. cut it longitudinally in two halves and put them with the gel side on the skin. Fix it with a bandage or so and leave it for hours until its dry.
I once burned really severe, put Aloe as a first aid and went to a doctor to get real medicine. he asked me how big my plant is cause if i had enough that would be better than any medicine he could give me.
Salve/creme/foam containing panthenol (in Europe it's Bepanten, not sure about the US). This stuff does wonders helping your skin recover. Great thing against sunburns, will work with a usual burn as well
Well it's probably going to burn a little whenever you take a shower. In terms of time that's difficult to estimate since everyone has different times for healing and we don't know how severe or large the patch is. For reference, I've had boiling water burn my fingertips a couple times and it takes about 4 days to a week to heal enough so that I don't feel it anymore, maybe add a few days until it's gone for good. Your arm will be different though
You don't need boiling water to wash a weighted blanket.
So, can we get an update as to the severity? Is it looking like it's gonna be an amputation or a band-aid?
- Somewhere in between: no bandaid and only Polysporin. Pharm.D orders

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