First aid for burns
In the first hours after a burn, the following measures must be taken:
- Avoid exposing your skin to sunlight if you have a sunburn.
- Take a shower at room temperature or apply a compress to the affected area. Do not apply ice or a very cold compress. Such events will provoke vasospasm and disrupt the blood supply of cells, which will provoke more severe tissue injury.
- To normalize body temperature, take a shower for 5-10 minutes.
- Use ointments and sprays with antiseptic and analgesic effects. These are products such as Olazol, Panthenol, etc.
- If the temperature rises to 38 degrees, do not take any action. If the temperature jumps to 39-40 degrees and at the same time the victim experiences dizziness and cold sweat, then give him a drink of cold water and call an ambulance.
Depending on how competently first aid was provided, further treatment depends.
Folk remedies and recipes
If there are no quick-acting medications in your home medicine cabinet, then the pain will be relieved by natural ingredients:
- potatoes – reduces pain and reduces tissue destruction. Leave the grated root vegetable on the skin for 15 minutes and rinse with cold water;
- aloe – if you get burned, this plant will help speed up healing. It is enough to cut the leaf and apply it to the wound for 30 minutes;
- cabbage – prevents swelling and relieves redness. Cabbage leaves must be fixed to the epithelium for 2 hours. And then remove it. Repeat the procedure twice a day;
- plantain - a herb that will help remove inflammation. It must also be applied for 2 hours, like cabbage leaves.
Basic methods of pain relief
When considering how to reduce pain from a burn, you can use one of the following methods:
- cooling burned areas with water, ice, snow;
- use of painkillers in tablet form;
- applying applications with an analgesic solution;
- injection of analgesics into a vein and into a muscle;
- use of traditional medicine.
Cooling the injured area will help not only quickly relieve pain from burns, but also reduce the depth of the damage.
How to numb a burn at home?
There is a wide variety of folk recipes that can be used to numb a burn. How to relieve pain from a burn using traditional therapy?
- Grate raw potatoes on a fine or medium grater. Squeeze out excess juice. Apply sterile gauze to the burn site, apply potato pulp on top, then reapply the gauze bandage and secure the compress with a bandage. The application time of the compress is 15 minutes.
- Cut the aloe leaf in half. Apply the wet part of the leaf to the burn site. Secure with a bandage. Exposure time is up to half an hour.
- Prepare a decoction of oak bark. Soak a small piece of cotton wool in a cool broth and use it as a lotion.
If traditional recipes are ineffective and the pain from the burn does not go away, the victim needs to consult a doctor.
Anesthetic ointments and aerosols
When studying the question of how to relieve pain after a burn, be sure to pay attention to sprays and ointments. Doctors usually prescribe the following drugs due to their high effectiveness:
- Solcoseryl . The cream is an ideal remedy for pain relief from burns caused by boiling water and other thermal aggressors.
- Panthenol . The product is produced in the form of a spray. Panthenol is considered the best remedy for burns, which, in addition to its analgesic effect, is characterized by antiphlogistic, restorative, and wound healing properties.
- Radevit . This is a fortified ointment against superficial burns. The medication is characterized by restorative, anti-infective, analgesic, and moisturizing effects.
- Levomekol . The product contains an anesthetic component, thanks to which the ointment quickly copes with pain. The product is also characterized by a pronounced disinfecting effect.
- Sulfargin . When considering how to reduce pain from a burn, you need to pay attention to this ointment. This is a new generation remedy, characterized by analgesic, anti-infective, restorative effects. The ointment can also be used for compresses.
- Bepanten . This is a very popular and effective remedy with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, regenerating, and moisturizing effects. It has an effect after the first use.
- Rescuer-Forte . The balm relieves pain very quickly. At the same time, damaged tissues are restored and bactericidal properties are activated. The balm also normalizes blood circulation and fights acute inflammatory processes.
- Olazol . The product has a local anesthetic effect, so you can do without systemic medications. The drug also promotes rapid regeneration of injured tissue.
- Novocaine solution . When considering how to quickly relieve pain from a burn, you can use this remedy. Moisten a cotton swab with the solution and apply to the damaged area.
Before using any medication, it is important to consult a specialist, as the drugs have contraindications for use and can also cause adverse reactions.
Review of pharmaceutical painkillers
For local treatment of burns, antibacterial, stimulating and compositional agents are used. They are easy to find at any pharmacy. The first ones must be applied to deep wounds to avoid sepsis:
- iodine-based products: betadine, vocadine;
- salts: rokkal, ethonium;
- silver: poviargol in solution.
All three groups can be used for primary skin treatment. They remove germs.
Stimulants speed up healing:
- panthenol;
- solcoseryl;
- propolis.
Composite medicines simultaneously disinfect and restore tissue regeneration:
- olasol;
- argakol;
- levomekol.
These drugs can also reduce pain and relieve swelling. They can be used by pregnant girls and children.
Painkillers for burns
When considering how to relieve pain from a burn, it is necessary to determine the severity and intensity of the pain syndrome. For severe injuries, it is recommended to use painkillers in tablet form. Let's look at the most effective medications:
- Ibuprofen . This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that can be purchased without a prescription. A 200 mg tablet has a pronounced analgesic effect for 5 hours.
- Paracetamol. The drug is characterized by a weak analgesic effect. But at the same time, the medication reduces body temperature in case of sunburn. This product can be used by children.
- Tempalgin . When considering how to quickly relieve pain from a burn, it is worth having Tempalgin in your first aid kit. Tablets, which are often used for headaches, have an excellent pain-relieving effect. They take effect after 10 minutes.
A combination of several drugs has the maximum effect. If moderate burns occur, taking analgesics is mandatory. The faster first aid is provided, the fewer consequences can be expected. But overusing painkillers can harm the body.
Treatment methods
First of all, it is necessary to relieve the inflammatory process, reliably protect the burned parts of the body so that air does not enter them. If you have a minor burn, you can try rubbing ink on it. After drying, apply again until the pain goes away.
The tincture of ink nuts helps a lot , it is very easy to prepare, for this you will need 200 g of ink nuts, crush it coarsely, pour half a liter of wine, leave for six days in a warm place, then strain and remove the sediment.
What is the advantage of this tincture? This is an effective, efficient method, and most importantly safe, because others often contain harmful substances that negatively affect the naked skin of the body - mercury nitrate, copper acetate, red precipitated mercury. Very often blue sandalwood is used to prepare ink.
Traditional methods of dealing with pain
When considering how to relieve the pain of a burn, you can use folk remedies. The most effective recipes:
- Sea buckthorn oil. If there is severe pain from a burn, take a piece of gauze, soak it in oil, and then use it to treat the damaged area.
- Chamomile infusion . To obtain an infusion, take 1 large spoon of dried chamomile flowers, pour a glass of boiling water and leave to infuse. After half an hour, soak a cotton pad in the infusion and wipe the burned skin. Chamomile has a calming effect, relieves pain and fights acute inflammation.
- Potato juice . This vegetable is always used to relieve pain from burns at home, as well as for other pathologies. To obtain juice, young tubers are taken, finely chopped and crushed in a blender to a pulp. Afterwards it is placed on cheesecloth and the juice is squeezed out. Treat problem areas with a healing agent or apply as a compress. They reduce the unpleasant symptoms of injury.
- Coconut oil . The product contains a large amount of fatty acids of plant origin, which have a good effect on burned skin. The product can be used on the second day after injury. There is no need to rub in the oil, but simply spread it in a loose layer over the burned area. After a certain period of time, the oil is completely absorbed and accelerates the regeneration process.
- Tea . When considering how to relieve the pain of a burn, you need to brew strong green or black tea. This drink helps to cope with pain from minor burns and burning. Cool the tea leaves, soak a cotton pad in it and apply a compress for 15-20 minutes. This product should not be used for severe damage.
- Cucumber juice . Take a ripe cucumber, chop finely, grind in a blender, then squeeze out the juice through cheesecloth. Apply the resulting juice to the affected surface. The procedures will help eliminate pain and burning.
- Aloe . This plant is in every home. To quickly relieve pain from a burn, you need to rub the leaf and apply it to the injured area. The gruel soothes the skin, relieves pain, and also prevents the infection from spreading.
Folk remedies are as safe as possible for humans, but very effective, as they help cope not only with pain, but also with other unpleasant symptoms after injury.
When pain may not be felt
Experts distinguish 4 degrees of burns. It is generally accepted that the stronger the pain, the deeper the damage. In fact, the victim feels the need to numb the burn only during the first three stages of the injury. With grade 4 injuries, deep tissues are affected, and the nerve fibers die almost immediately, so unpleasant sensations appear immediately at the moment of injury, and then only a few days later, when the wound begins to become inflamed.
If it is obvious that the burn is quite severe, and the victim practically does not complain of pain, it is almost impossible to provide help at home. Treatment should be carried out in a hospital setting. All that can be done on your own is to give the victim something to drink, cover the wound with sterile gauze and take the person to the hospital as soon as possible.
Local remedies
Local preparations help disinfect the surface and relieve pain. These include ointments, gels, sprays, solutions and foams. They eliminate painful symptoms faster than tablets, reduce swelling, disinfect the surface, and subsequently promote tissue restoration and regeneration. Before applying them, the wound should be treated with one of the antiseptics:
- Chlorhexidine,
- Miramistin,
- Betadine,
- hydrogen peroxide 3%,
- Furacilin tablet diluted in water.
After this procedure, healing agents are applied. In case of severe burns of III A-IV degrees, their use is prohibited without a doctor’s instructions, since lubrication can cause infection, further injure the affected area, or cause severe pain to the victim. In addition, there is a high probability of overdose of active components due to direct absorption of the drug into the blood, which often leads to disruptions of the central nervous system and the active manifestation of side effects.
For grade 1-3 injuries, such drugs are necessary - they form a protective film and do not allow pathogenic microorganisms to penetrate deep into the wound.
Panthenol
Panthenol is one of the most famous and widespread drugs for skin injuries. The most convenient form of release is spray foam, since application does not require direct contact with the surface, which eliminates the pain of treatment. Thanks to the active component - dexpanthenol - the foam helps reduce inflammation, has a wound-healing and disinfectant effect, and stimulates the process of tissue repair without scarring .