Burns

[Fae Oonagh]

Burns Home Remedies
The word "burn" applies to certain types of skin damage-caused by extreme heat or cold, chemicals, radiation or X-rays and exposure to the sun.

Burns are classified by degree. In a first­degree burn, the skin is painful and red, but unbroken. In a second-degree burn, the skin is broken and there are painful blisters. A third­degree burn destroys the underlying tissue as well as surface skin. The burn may be painless because nerve endings have also been destroyed. .

A fourth-degree burn involves deeply charred and blackened areas of the skin.

Second-degree burns that cover an extensive area of skin and all third- and fourth­degree burns require immediate medical attention. Any kind of burn on the face should also receive immediate medical attention as a precaution against swollen breathing passages.

We'll deal mainly with first-degree burns which occur from things like grabbing a hot pot handle, grasping the iron side of an iron having the oven door close on your forearm or getting splattered with boiling oil.

Here are natural remedies using mostly handy household items.

First-Degree Burns
Apply cold water or cold compresses first! Then you can. . .

Draw out the heat and pain by applying a slice of raw, unpeeled potato, a piece of fresh pumpkin pulp or a slice of raw onion. Leave the potato, pumpkin or onion on the burn for 15 minutes, off for five minutes and then put a fresh piece on for another 15 minutes.
If you have either a vitamin E or garlic oil capsule, puncture one and squeeze the contents directly on the burn.
People have had remarkable results with apple cider vinegar. Pour it on the burned or scalded area.
CAUTION: Only put an acidic solution like vinegar on very superficial, minor burns.

Keep an aloe vera plant in your home. It's like growing a tube of healing ointment. Break off about a half-inch piece of stem. Squeeze it so that the juice oozes out onto the burned area.
The juice is most effective if the plant is as least two to three years old and the stems have little bumps on the edges.

If you burn yourself while baking and happen to have salt-free unbaked pie crust around, roll it thin and place it on the entire surface of the burn. Let it stay on until it dries up and falls off by itself.
Good Enough to Eat
Make a poultice of raw sauerkraut and apply it to the burned area. If you don't have sauerkraut, use crushed comfrey root with a little honey. In fact, just plain honey on the burn may ease the pain and help the healing process.
Spread apple butter over the burned area. As it dries, add another coat to it. Keep adding coats for a day or two, until the burn is just about butter-uh, better.
CAUTION: Only put butter or other fatty substances on the most superficial, minor burns .

Second-Degree Burns
For at least 30 minutes, dip the burned area in cold water or apply a soft towel that has been drenched in ice-cold water. Do not use lard, butter or a salve on the burn! Those things are a breeding ground for bacteria. In addition, when you get medical attention, the doctor has to wipe off the goo to examine the condition of the skin.
If the burn is on an arm or leg, keep the limb raised in the air to help prevent swelling.

Chemical and Acid Burns
Call for medical attention immediately. But until help arrives, put the affected area under the closest running water-a sink, a garden hose or the shower. The running water will help wash the chemicals off the skin. Keep the water running on the burned skin for at least 20 minutes. You can stop when medical help arrives.

Minor Burns

Burned Tongue

Keep rinsing your mouth with cold water. A few drops of vanilla extract may relieve the pain, or try sprinkling some white sugar on it.
Rope Burns

Soak hands in salt water. If salt and water are not available, do as they do in Italy for rope burns-soak the hands in urine.
Burnt Throat

Two teaspoons of olive oil will soothe and coat a burnt throat.
Burning Feet

Wrap tomato slices on the soles of the feet and keep them elevated for a half-hour.
Soak your feet in warm potato water for 15 minutes. Dry your feet thoroughly. If you're going right to bed, massage the feet with a small amount of sesame or almond oil. You might want to put on loose-fitting socks to avoid messing up the sheets.
Bavarian mountain climbers, after soaking their feet in potato water, sprinkle hot, roasted salt on a cloth and wrap it around their feet. It not only soothes burning and tired feet, but relieves itchy ones as well.