Burn Injuries

Every hour 273 Americans suffer a burn injury. Around 25% will seek hospital treatment and among them some 25,000 will have severe burns covering at least 25% of their body.

Kinds of Burns

First Degree – Burn only affects the outer layer of skin (epidermis) and induces swelling and redness. It requires little treatment and subsides without permanent damage. A sunburn is a good example of a first degree burn.

Second Degree – Burn affects the epidermis and second layer of skin (dermis). Burn will be reddish in color, swollen, and skin may be peeling from the burn area. If it is not treated properly the burn can become third degree from decreased blood flow and swelling.

Third Degree – The outer layer, second layer, and hypodermis are severely damaged. Skin may become charred or turn a translucent white color and the victim may go into shock. Due to the structural damage it will be very slow to heal and susceptible to permanent scarring.

Treatments

Patients who do not have severe burns will often be prescribed topical antibiotics to keep the wound from being infected in addition to over the counter analgesics. Patients may treat scarring through topical treatments to reduce scarring.

For more severe burns patients may require skin grafts and pressurized garments to protect wounds and allow for the formation of elastic scar tissue. Severe burn patients will also need to increase protein intake as your body uses protein to help treat wounds. Patients may also need to increase water intake. See below for questions about scarring.

Scarring

There are 3 major types of scarring associated with burn injuries.

A keloid scar is a red/pink growth that forms when your body continues to produce collagen after the burn has healed. They can be removed through various treatments including outpatient surgery.

Hypertrophic scars are similar to keloid scars in appearance but they do not grow past the area of injury and will gradually dissipate over time.

The third type of scarring is a contracture. This occurs when normally elastic skin tissue is damaged and replaced with inelastic tissue. This creates a tightening that can affect mobility. Often these are treated through physical therapy or surgery for severe growths.