Tuesday, May 03, 2011

What to do when you get a Burn


Burnt with hot oil

When I was a kid, I remember playing hide and seek with my friend and I hid under my father's writing desk. Unfortunately, our helper had kept her hot iron under the desk too and I suffered a burn to my left arm. The first thing she did was to put toothpaste on the wound. I only have a vague memory of what happened after that, but that 8 cm scar is still visible on my left arm to remind me of what happened.  It's a good thing it wasn't my face or I might be given the nickname, "Scar".

This is a very short post to tell you one thing. When you get a scald or a burn, the first thing you should do is to put the affected area under running tap water for 10 to 15 mins. Once the pain subsides, go see the doctor. Of course if it is just a small burn about the size of a coin or two, then you may not need to see the doctor. But if it is relatively large and especially if it affects any of the joints or has blistered, then it is advisable to seek medical help.

Would you all please instruct your home helpers, viz maids, grandma, grandpa and whoever is looking after your child about this today so that they know what to do.

2 comments:

Pristine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pristine said...

Years ago, the day before my English PSLE, I spilled a pot of boiling porridge over my left hand. That was extremely unlucky. The lucky thing though, is that I don't have any scars. Yes, I put my hand under running tap water, but the thing that really helped was rubbing it with the flesh of aloe vera every day for a few weeks. Even now, I'm amazed that I got away with no scars.