Burn Skin Treatment

Modern burn therapy started around the Second World War when sulphanilamide, penicillin and plasma became available for clinical use. They were effective remedies against the two most common deadly complications of extensive burns, infection and shock. In Europe, before 1940, a person with more than of their skin was most like to die. Now these patients can attain multi-disciplinary care in a well-equipped and highly specialized burn unit.

Important improvements have appeared since the 1940s, measurable by lower mortality rates, better healing time and restored function. This is thanks to the formation of burn research units, a better knowledge of the burn wound and new, enhanced techniques.

The medical team’s first concern is not the burn scar or burn wound itself, but the patient’s life-support systems for blood circulation and respiration. The patient can die from breathing problems or from shock. Shock is characterized by a decreased rate of blood flow to vital organs. If the blood flow to these organs is insufficient, they can’t receive the oxygen they need to function. The severity of shock generally matches the amount of skin that has been burned, that is shown as a percentage of the entire body surface. There will be respiratory problems if the lungs cannot provide enough oxygen to the organism. This is more frequent if the patient has also suffered from smoke inhalation.

Smoke inhalation, shock, burn size and how much of the total burn is a third-degree burn determines a person’s immediate chances for survival when suffering a burn injury. The success rate of skin care interventions depends on the age of the burn victim, the area of the burn, and the extent of smoke inhalation damage.

Burns are classified by the size of the burn in relation to the overall body size of the victim and to the depth of the burn. The burn wound is cleaned by hospital personnel one or two times a day and then dressed, commonly with treatment products designed to kill germs (a burn product called a topical antibiotic), gauze and bandages. Dressings means anything the nurses apply on or around the lesion. Paraffin-imbued gauze is adequate because it doesn’t adhere to the lesion. Modern transparent dressings are best, as the lesion can heal beneath what looks like clear plastic sheeting. The curing process can be watched and the skin doesn’t need to be disturbed so often and so cures more quickly. The transparent dressings are very expensive, but not if measured in terms of minimizing pain, less scarring and quicker curing. Classical bandages can be washed and reused while plastic-like sheets are used once.

Prevent the consequences of solar damage and severe skin burns applying a new skin care product made only with biological ingredients.

- Kathleen LeRoi