Bad burn, need advice - Burns & Injuries Message Board

marie221 · 01-10-2008, 04:45 PM

My mom got burned with 100 to 200 degrees hot water about 30 minutes ago,
and shes' to stubborn to go to the hospital.
Her hand is very red and swollen bad, can any one give me any advice on how to treat the burn without going to the doctor?
And what type of burn would this be, and how serious does it sound?
Thanks,
Marie

feelbad · 01-11-2008, 07:42 AM

from your description at that point,it sounds like at least a second degree burn.most burns,when they cover a larger area,sometimes even the docs cannot actually tell imediately just how really severe it is.time is a big factor in how it will look and what they feel the level actually is.most burns will always look worse(espescially with the swelling) the day after and not as much the day of.given the fact that it is already swollen only after a half an hour,she really does need this evaluated and treated at an ER as soon as possible.anytime a burn involves joints(the hands) and the face or feet,they need special attention since the skin will usually shrink when healing and the patient will need to be certain to be doing particular excercises to keep the joints moveable.she just really needs to be seen.pain control would also be availiable for the burn.i am sure it hurts like hell at this point?if she has not already gone to see an ER doc by this time she has to go soon.this does need special attention to retain full use.hope she finally decided to go last night.please let me know how she is doing. FB

marie221 · 01-11-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feelbad

from your description at that point,it sounds like at least a second degree burn.most burns,when they cover a larger area,sometimes even the docs cannot actually tell imediately just how really severe it is.time is a big factor in how it will look and what they feel the level actually is.most burns will always look worse(espescially with the swelling) the day after and not as much the day of.given the fact that it is already swollen only after a half an hour,she really does need this evaluated and treated at an ER as soon as possible.anytime a burn involves joints(the hands) and the face or feet,they need special attention since the skin will usually shrink when healing and the patient will need to be certain to be doing particular excercises to keep the joints moveable.she just really needs to be seen.pain control would also be availiable for the burn.i am sure it hurts like hell at this point?if she has not already gone to see an ER doc by this time she has to go soon.this does need special attention to retain full use.hope she finally decided to go last night.please let me know how she is doing. FB

Well, I finally did get her to go to hospital last night and they said it was a second degree burn.
They put some type of white cream on her hand and wrapped it with a ton of gauze, and also gave her a shot which I think was for the pain.
Today when she unwrapped the gauze to clean her hand and put new gauze and cream on, the top of her hand was black and blistered.

Good news is her hand feels better than it did yesterday!

feelbad · 01-12-2008, 08:51 AM

it is actually "black' and blistered?honestly,this almost sounds like she also suffered a certain level of actual third degree too,at least where that black area is(remember where i said that most burns look their worst the day after the actual burn?).i would at the very least,call the ER she went to and ask them about it,or speak directly with someone from a burn unit they may have there.black skin after a burn can mean alot of different things with most of them not real good.it just needs to be told to someone at the treating hosp she went to.if she did suffer some level of third degree burn,it would NOT be painful since the nerves also become burned as well.it is a full thickness type burn.but that hospital needs this update so they can possibly get her back in to be seen again.this does need someones attention.she could possibly be losing real blood flow to that area,that is just one of the things that can cause that blackness in the skin.this is crucial to be evaluated.just call that hosp back or like i said,speak with the burn unit if they have one there,they would be able to give you the best possible info,really.you just do not want to take any chances here.better safe than sorry,espescially with what she has going on right now.this is not normal for 'just' a real second degree burn.i do hope things are okay for her,but just make those calls,okay?please keep me posted on just what you find out.Marcia

marie221 · 01-13-2008, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feelbad

it is actually "black' and blistered?honestly,this almost sounds like she also suffered a certain level of actual third degree too,at least where that black area is(remember where i said that most burns look their worst the day after the actual burn?).i would at the very least,call the ER she went to and ask them about it,or speak directly with someone from a burn unit they may have there.black skin after a burn can mean alot of different things with most of them not real good.it just needs to be told to someone at the treating hosp she went to.if she did suffer some level of third degree burn,it would NOT be painful since the nerves also become burned as well.it is a full thickness type burn.but that hospital needs this update so they can possibly get her back in to be seen again.this does need someones attention.she could possibly be losing real blood flow to that area,that is just one of the things that can cause that blackness in the skin.this is crucial to be evaluated.just call that hosp back or like i said,speak with the burn unit if they have one there,they would be able to give you the best possible info,really.you just do not want to take any chances here.better safe than sorry,espescially with what she has going on right now.this is not normal for 'just' a real second degree burn.i do hope things are okay for her,but just make those calls,okay?please keep me posted on just what you find out.Marcia

Well, it's not actually black, it's kinda greyish.
She went to the doctor again yesterday and they said it might start getting infected. And not only was her hand swollen, her arm was swollen too.
The doctor sounded like he was a little worried about it too because he said it looked like it was starting to get infected, so he told her that she would need it to be checked at the hospital daily.
Today she went to the doctor again(I didn't go this time, so I didn't get to see her hand), and from what I heard her hand had alot more blisters and the swellings worse in her hand and arm too, and they put her on 2 antibiotics.
They didn't do a blood test this time, so I don't know if it really got infected yet.
But, she will be going to a different doctor tommorrow so I'll let you know what happends then.
By the way, are you a doctor or a nurse? Cuz you really seem to know what you're talking about. just wondering is all.