Whether you’ve mistakenly touched a hot stove or forgotten to reapply sunscreen during summertime heat, everyone has experienced a burn. While these wounds are sometimes confined to the surface of your skin, when they penetrate to deeper layers, they can do severe damage to the affected area. When a burn accident occurs, here’s how to initially treat the injury as you make your way to an urgent care facility.

Degrees of Skin Burns

A burn is tissue damage caused by scalding, sun or radiation overexposure, smoke inhalation, or contact with fire, chemicals, or electricity. A doctor will diagnose the severity of the wound based on one of four degrees:

• First-degree: This damage will only affect the outer layer of your skin. It will be red and painful but not cause blisters or other damage. A sunburn is an example of this level of severity.
• Second-degree: Once blisters begin to form, you have a wound that penetrates the dermis—the layer just underneath the surface of your skin. It will look bright red, swollen, and possibly shiny or wet. It will also hurt to the touch.
• Third-degree: If the wound turns black, brown, white, or yellow instead of red, it is a third-degree burn. This damage destroys two full layers of skin, and it may not even hurt because it destroys nerve endings. You should seek immediate medical attention if you see this type of burn or worse.
• Fourth-degree: As the most severe type of damage, fourth-degree burns are potentially life-threatening. They penetrate through all layers of skin down to your bone, muscles, and tendons.

Doctors consider first- and early second-degree burns minor injuries, while severe second-, third-, and fourth-degree ones are major wounds. Even still, if you’re unsure of how serious your condition is, head straight to an urgent care or emergency room to evaluate the damage.

Burn First Aid

Remove the Affected Person From Harm’s Way

Before you help relieve the burn victim’s pain, remove them entirely from the cause of their injury. For electrical burns, in particular, make sure the power source is off before touching the affected person, as the current can then hurt you if the circuit is still live. Check for signs of shock, like fainting, pale complexion, or shallow breathing. If necessary, perform rescue breathing until emergency personnel arrives. Otherwise, perform the following first aid before heading to an urgent care facility for evaluation and treatment.

Remove Any Clothing or Restrictive Jewelry Around the Burn

Burns will likely swell, so it’s essential to remove any belongings that could restrict blood flow, particularly if the wound is in the neck region. Possibilities include jewelry, belts, hair ties, tight clothing, and rigid collars. This inflammation will occur rapidly, so make this a priority before formally treating the affected area. Since the immediate concern is to cool down the skin to stop the burning, also remove any fabric around the area that will retain heat. If any material is stuck to the injury, though, do not try to remove it. If possible, try to elevate the burn above heart level to minimize swelling.

Soothe Small Burns With Cool Water

To stop the burning process, you will need to run the affected area under cool running water for at least 20 minutes. The key here is cool, not cold or ice water, as the shock from the extreme temperature difference will only damage the tissue more. If there are substances stuck to the wound, such as fabric or hot tar, don’t remove the material. Instead, run the water over the whole area. You should brush away any powder that has caused a chemical burn before cooling with water, and the tissue should likely receive this treatment for longer than 20 minutes. If the injury covers a large area of skin, skip this step and head to an urgent care center immediately, as running water can cause significant loss of body heat.

Visit a Doctor or an Urgent Care

While first aid can be majorly beneficial to initial treatment of a burn, ultimately, you should receive medical attention for the wound. Consider these five parameters in the days following this trauma:

• Location: Burns to the face, eyes, ears, hands, feet, major joints, or genital area should get immediate treatment from a doctor. They can result in permanent damage if only treated at home.
• Degree: As mentioned earlier, third- and fourth-degree burns are always serious due to potential nerve damage. Since it is difficult to evaluate how deep a burn is, head to the doctor if you’re unsure of its severity.
• Size: If the injury is larger than your palm, you need a doctor to evaluate it.
• Signs of infection: Keep an eye out for increased pain over time, redness, swelling, liquid or pus, or a foul odor coming from the wound. These symptoms all indicate infection.
• Worsening condition: Many burns won’t show signs of deep tissue damage until days following the incident. Electrical burns, in particular, will look minor but have severe internal damage. If it gets more painful, red, or swollen following this type of injury, see a doctor immediately.

While it can feel like an overreaction to visit urgent care with a stovetop injury, never underestimate the severity of a burn victim’s condition. Getting professional medical advice can help solidify how to treat your wound as well as avoid any long-term issues that can arise.

If you’re unsure of the severity of a burn you or a loved one experienced, visit a trusted urgent care center to receive a formal diagnosis. In Albany, NY, families rely on Urgent & Primary Care to offer superior treatment for a variety of health needs. Their team of doctors can help prescribe ways to alleviate pain for minor burns or formally diagnose when it’s time to head to the hospital. For more information about their full range of medical services, visit them online, or give them a call today at (518) 470-3458.