Small blisters are usually caused by hot water and hot soup splashing on the body. The temperature of hot water is generally not high. Common ones are: after boiling, the hot water is left for a few minutes, or the hot water in the water dispenser is about 80℃. There is no need to go to the hospital in this situation. You can handle it yourself at home.
Here are the correct treatments for friends, which can promote healing and avoid leaving scars to the greatest extent.
Attention should be paid to burns and scalds caused by hot oil, boiling water (100℃), electric shock (including cigarette lighter), baby warmer, hot water bottle, etc. Very serious, beyond the scope of this article. Suggest going to the hospital.
Time point: Immediately after scald.
Correct irrigation immediately after injury is the only way to reduce the degree of injury. The emergency treatment before blister formation is much more important than the treatment after blister formation.
Here are a few key points:
1, washing is the first choice, not soaking, cold compress or ice compress.
2. If it is impossible to rinse, consider soaking; Can't soak, consider cold compress; Try not to use ice.
3, the use of normal temperature tap water for washing, there is no need to use disinfectant.
4. Please rinse for as long as possible, preferably for more than 30 minutes.
Please rinse at least until the pain disappears.
6, 6 hours after the injury, washing will have a good effect.
Why wash it?
Sufficient time can not only reduce the temperature of deep tissue, but also reduce the later exudation, that is, reduce the degree of blisters. Accessories must be taken off, such as rings, bracelets, watches and belts.
Many friends have a misunderstanding about taking medicine, that is, they will be entangled in the question of which medicine to take. In fact, I have burned myself. Don't worry about what medicine to use, but correct cold therapy, prepare some sterile items, and change the medicine later. It is suggested to buy some band-aid or medical sterile gauze, medical adhesive tape, cotton balls and iodophor in a nearby drugstore in case of emergency.
Different from the imagination of ordinary people, the role of ointment can not reduce the degree of scald. If the blister skin is not broken, it has no effect of anti-infection and promoting healing. The main function of ointment is to relieve pain and prevent the wound from drying into scab, because once the scab is formed, the exudate below will not come out and it is easy to be infected. Please refer to my other article for details.
Disinfect before taking medicine. It is recommended to disinfect with iodophor, and professional disinfectant chlorhexidine acetate solution can also be used. It is forbidden to use liquids such as alcohol and iodine. Then take the medicine. Before, I advised not to use oily drugs, because oily ointment is easy to cause infection for deep burns. For example, hot oil, flame, or a cup of boiling water spilled on your body, and extensive or deep burns are not recommended. It is recommended to use a professional prescription scald bath. For example, silver sulfadiazine emulsifiable concentrate is suitable for external use, so I won't talk about it here.
If it is confirmed that it is a superficial burn, you can use some over-the-counter burn ointment, such as mupirocin, erythromycin ointment, moist burn ointment and so on. As a first aid medicine. If there is infection in the future, you need to change professional medicine. It is not recommended to use some "earthwork", such as purple potion, red potion, Thai green grass paste, dentistry and soy sauce. It is not recommended to cover the wound with clothes again, because it is easy to be infected with clothes.
Time point: several hours after injury.
Judge whether blisters are formed. Blisters sometimes don't start right away, but form slowly. I even found blisters when I got up the next day. If the wound has no blisters, no further treatment is needed. Skin erythema? The tingling will be over soon, don't worry. In most cases, medication is not needed. If you are worried or in pain, you can moisturize with a little aloe gel.
After the blister is formed, should it be broken? This is a problem that many people care about. Many patients will ask me, I dare not break the blister, can I still keep it? Some patients also think that broken blisters will leave scars. Is it better to break the blisters or not to break them?
In fact, the academic community itself is controversial. Why is such a simple question still controversial?
Here is an example to let you know the principle first: blisters are like a bag of milk, and the packaging bag is the skin of blisters. Infection means that the milk (blister) in it has gone bad. If sealed, milk can be stored for a period of time. So if the blister skin is not broken, it can be temporarily guaranteed not to be infected. But even if it is sealed, the milk inside will go bad in a few days, and the package will burst by itself, so when to break the package bag is controversial.
In fact, this problem does not need to be too entangled. Most scalded blisters will burst by themselves if you are careful, and you won't absorb much. And if the blisters are not broken, it has no decisive role in whether to leave scars in the later stage. Whether the blister is broken or not, the correct treatment can achieve good results. It should be noted that once the package is damaged, milk will go bad very easily if it is not treated. At this time, it is best to pour out all the milk inside, make the packaging bag as dry as possible, or simply put the packaging bag away. Tear the whole thing apart and dry it. The same is true of blisters. If there are signs of infection, the blisters should be broken as soon as possible.
So how big a blister can you keep? If the blister is flat without obvious bulge, you can keep the blister skin and wait for self-healing.
My personal suggestion: If it is larger than the thumb nail cover, or the blister rises rapidly (obviously within 6 hours), or the risk of infection is high, then it is recommended to puncture the blister. The risk of leaving a blister is that the blister may gradually become larger, opening the surrounding normal skin into a blister.
It should be noted that in the absence of tools, it is still recommended to keep the blister skin temporarily, because if there is no dressing to cover it, the broken blister will be exposed to the air and easily infected. When the tools bought by the pharmacy arrive, you can start to puncture the blisters. Disinfect the blister and its surroundings with iodophor first (be careful not to use alcohol). With clean tweezers, gently tear a small hole at the edge of the blister, preferably at the lower edge, so that water can flow out. The bigger the hole, the better, even if half of the blisters are torn off, there is no big problem. Don't worry about the pain. Generally, you won't feel anything.
Dressing covering operation: after blister treatment and medication, the dressing should be covered. Band-aid for small blisters, gauze for big blisters, professional foam dressing.
Band-aid, gauze and other external dressings not only protect the wound surface, but also absorb the exudate in the blisters. Therefore, the dressing must be close to the blister to squeeze out the liquid in the blister. Some parts are loose and easy to move, such as the tiger's mouth, which is difficult to stick with a band-aid. Bandage or adhesive tape can be used to increase the pressure.
Mistakes in blister treatment:
No medicine or gauze: the wound should not be exposed to the air. Gauze is breathable and will not cover the wound. Moreover, the effect of gauze absorbing exudate is much better than that of natural air drying.
Apply the medicine directly without covering the gauze: this will cause the medicine to dry quickly, and the dried medicine has no effect on the wound. So if you really don't want to cover the gauze, you have to take medicine many times a day. It's troublesome and easy to erase.
Bare gauze is not medicated: it is easy to stick to the wound. The gauze won't come off at the next dressing change, which is very dangerous.
Frequency of dressing change: It is recommended to change the dressing once a day. Change the dressing at least every two days. Remember to disinfect before each medication.
Time point: about the fourth day after injury.
At this time, another important problem will be faced, that is, whether to remove the blister skin.
At the time point of about 4 days after injury, the blister skin left on the wound is of little significance, so it is recommended to remove it completely.
Then some friends must think it is terrible to do so and ask, "Can the blister skin be removed?" It is possible in some cases: if the blister is dry, the wound is painless, and there is no blushing, then there is basically no big problem. It is safer for the wound to touch water after one week. This is the most ideal and lightest situation.
If it is more serious, there will be a process of swelling and pain, which we call "inflammatory reaction". Specifically, the wound around the infection is red and swollen, but to a lesser extent, and the wound feels painful or itchy. Many patients will think that it is because they have not handled it well before, or they have been exposed to water, which has led to infection. In fact, this is not the case.
The physiological significance of this process itself is to gather white blood cells in the blood and prepare the body for possible infection. In the "inflammatory reaction" stage, it is recommended to remove the blister skin to avoid further infection.
Infected wounds will be very red and swollen, and generally lower limb wounds will hurt and you can't walk. In addition, there will be signs such as pus and odor. If there is "redness, swelling, heat, pain, spots, odor, pus and heat", it is the expression of infection (inflammation).
If this happens, the blister skin must be removed as soon as possible. See a doctor as soon as possible if you can, and it is probably not appropriate to handle it yourself. If you really can't see a doctor, it is recommended to use sulfadiazine silver cream (prescription antibacterial agent, please go to a pharmacy or online shopping) and wrap it up, and stop using all "burns" that will give oil. Infected wounds should be replaced at least once a day.
Finally, about taking a bath.
You can take a bath if the blisters are not broken, and try to protect the blisters when taking a bath. In the case of blisters, it is recommended not to take a bath for a week, because it will cause pain in addition to easy infection. During this time, you can cover the wound with some waterproof foam dressings and take a bath; Or wrap the wound with plastic wrap before cleaning.
Don't panic if it breaks or gets water in the shower. After washing, squeeze out the liquid in the blister as much as possible, then disinfect, apply medicine and bandage it.