Need advice/opinions - 2nd Degree(?) burns from Hot Water Clothes Steamer - Burns & Injuries Message Board

wordsontour · 08-30-2005, 11:37 PM

About two days ago, I was heating up a hot water clothes steamer and my foot caught the cord as I was walking by it (I know, I was stupid not to pay attention.) The water was boiling inside the steamer, like it should, and I could hear it. Unfortunately the lid was not on tight or something, but it spilled on the back of my right arm, and the back of my waist.

I immediately grabbed a towel to dry the area, changed out of my clothes and after about a minute or two (I know I waited too long now) got into a cold shower for about 7 minutes. I currently have a large red patch of bright red skin on my waist, with brownish colored streaks above that, with another line of red raw skin. This is the major burn.

The burn on my arm was not bad until I put gauze on it, and the next day went to pull it off. Because of the fluid leaking from the wound, the bandage stuck to it and pulled off the skin, making it even more raw. Now today I pull off the arm bandage and there is blood on the wound. Is this just because I pulled another layer off, or is this because of the burn?

I have no health insurance, so I don't want to go to a hospital if I can help it. The arm wound is sensitive to the touch, I have no blisters anywhere, but the areas are leaking yellow fluid. What advice would you have that I could do to help these wounds heal faster, will I have scarring, how can I dress them better, and how long (about) will these take to heal?

Thanks, sorry for allllll the talking.
Megan

feelbad · 08-31-2005, 06:35 AM

even without insurance, you really really need to have all of your burns evaluated by a doc.Either at an office or urgent care center.I know you did not want to hear that but quite honestly when you are talking about severe burns there can be many different complications if this is not treated correctly.If you are seeing yellow fluid seeping from any of the burns that could be a very strong indicator of an infection.if this is the case, you may need anti biotics just to clear it and to help the burns heal properly.The pain must be pretty severe,and a doc could also help you with this too.i would try an urgent care as you would be able to be seen right away and it would be much cheaper than an ER.unless you actually have a primary doc that you have seen in the past,you could call and tell them that you need to be seen on an emergent basis because of 2nd degree burns with a possible infection and let them you know that you are also suffering with some pretty nasty pain as well.they usually set aside time in most clinics for patients with more emergent problems that really have to be seen asap.but at any rate, there really is not much you can do for yourself at home so you really need to make a decision here very soon.trust me here, you do not want those burns to get really badly infected.The healing process entails having to repeadedly have your infected and dead skin peeled off on a daily basis until they see 'clear" skin.it is not pleasent.just do it and worry about the bill later.you will work it all out somehow.we always manage and between myself and my son,we have been knee deep in medical bill nightmares for years.Your health should always come first.by the way, if you should ever get burned again in the futuer,no matter what, get that burned area to some cold water as soon as humanly possible.If you have to climb into your kitchen sink to do it, well, just do it as it really does make a huge difference in the degree of burn,honestly.Good luck,FB