Burned both hands last night

[rammstein]

Wow-

Heated a mug of water in the microwave. Abotu 5 minutes, until I saw the water boiling. Opened, took out cup. Water sloshed, hit upper part of mug which was apparently very very hot- hot enough to cause the water to resume boiling and boil over onto my right hand. Right arm reacts- throws water and mug onto left hand.

10 minutes later, I am still running cold water over my hands wondering if I am going to lose them. It hurt that bad. Called my friend's fiance, a doctor who did a lot of dermatology stuff. She basially said if its not blistered (there was only a few small ones) and if the skin isn't broken, its not hospital worthy. I couldn't believe that being in that much pain didn't require an immediate morphine drip.

In the end, I ended up getting a bunch of neosporine and putting it all over the burns (about 10 square inches total), and wrapping in gauze. I look like a total jackass in my suit and tie at work right now. This is supposed to keep the skin moist and not let it get all dried and cracked.

The pain went on from about 10:30 until about 2 when I finally fell asleep.

It still hurts today, but more like a ridiculously bad sunburn.

I guess its all the nerves in there, but I mean, wow. That really really hurt. Maybe I am a baby. Burns suck. The burns luckly stayed on the pimp-slap side of my hands, so typing is unaffected. But I won't be able to pimp-slap for a few weeks.

[Rot 911]

Damn, hope you are ok!

[Jim Bremner]

call your local bicycle shops and find out if they carry "Brave Soldier" - I didn't create the name! It's a cream for roadrash damage for your skin. It has a numbing agent that's almost RX strength. GOOD STUFF!

[vash]

wow....hope you heal fast.

always float a toothpick in your mug that you are microwaving. it allows it to boil, and not superheat.

[Rikao4]

keep them dry and clean...
was a burn pt. in another life...

Rika

[cgarr]

With both hands wrapped up! Now your going to find out who your real friends are!!

[sammyg2]

It's too late now, but there is a product out there that would have basically eliminated the burns. it's called water jel http://www.waterjel.com/home2.cfm
and it turns a second degree burn into a first degree, and a first degree into no burn. Check out the testimonials on that website.
We've used this product in oil refineries for decades.
No, it's not hype. Many years ago I was splashed in the face with a little 400 degree oil.
I could feel the blisters on my face when I covered it with my hands. They rushed me to the control room and immediately covered my face with water jel dressings. By the time the refinery paramedics arrived and removed the dressings for evaluation, the blisters were gone and I only had a few red blotches which went away in few days. Everyone who watched could not believe it. They saw the large blisters and thought I was in really bad shape, until 15 minutes later the blisters had completely disapeared.

I saw a buddy of mine burned with a large amount of 600 degree steam. We only had enough water jel to ocver about 50% of his back. the areas we covered ended up being first and some second degree, most of the areas we didn't cover required skin grafts. it really is that good.

Here's one testimonial ( http://www.waterjel.net/file/nlc_letter_1993.pdf ):

Nancy L Caroline M.D. Metulla Israel
10 January, 1993

Dear Sir.
About two or three years ago, you were kind enough to send me some samples of Water-jel dressings for me to evaluate. I did so, was favourably impressed, and as a consequence included an endorsement of the product in my text-books*. I also recommended strongly to the Israel Defence Forces and Magen David Adom (the Red Shield of david, Israel's Ambulance service) that they equip themselves with water-jel dressings. To date, unfortunately, nothing concrete has come of these recommendations. I'm writing though to share with you a case that may eventually, lead to some progress on that front.
last march, a two-and-a-half year old child here in the Northern Gallilee, the son of the newly arrived Russian immigrants, fell into a bathtub of near boiling water and sustained second degree burns over 80 to 90% of his body and face. I heard the MICU reporting on the case from the scene and requesting a helicoopter to evacuate the baby to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. Since I still had a few water-Jel dressings left from the package you sent me, I radioed the ambulance and told them I would meet them at the helicopter landing pad. We reached the landing pad at about the same time, and I used all the water-jel dressings I had left to cover most of the crucial areas (the baby's face, hands, feet, genitals and whatever else we could manage to cover with the remaining dressings)
The babies photgraph appeared in the newspaper a few weeks later, over the headlines :"The Doctors said A Miracle Occured Here." The article goes on to express the wonderment of the medical staff at Rambam Hospital that the burns did not progress and lead to permanent disfigurement. The hospital physicians were not aware that a special dressing had been used in the field.
Impressed with the result, one of the paramedics who had cared for the baby petitioned Magen David Adom headquarters in tel Aviv to furnish all Israeli ambulance with Water-Jel dressings. The paramedics request was referred by MDA to Israel's top burn specialists, for their advice and comment. The unanimous opinion was that Water-Jel was a superior product and should indeed be standard equipment aboard our ambulances. The recommendation still stands, apparently stalled because of budgetary constraints, but I am hopeful something will come of it, since the life-saving potential of the dressing has been clearly demonstrated.
In any event, I thought you would be interested to hear of a case in which Water-Jel saved a child from permanent disfigurement.
Sincerely yours
Nancy L. Caroline. M.D.
*EMERGENCY CARE IN THE STREETS. 4th.ed. Boston: Little, Brown. 1991
*EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT. 3rd.ed. Houston: Little, Brown. (Company study guides

I recomend everyone gets some and keeps it on-hand just in case.

[VINMAN]

+1 on the WaterGel!
Been using it for a while in the Fire/EMS world. Stuff works wonders.

[BlueSideUp]

I can't imagine typing on the computer is fun with burned hands.

[dad911]

We always have an aloe plant in the house. Break off a leaf and rub it on burns.

[Rick V]

Both hands, damn dude, your sex life is ruined for a while.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by dad911

We always have an aloe plant in the house. Break off a leaf and rub it on burns.

I've done that a few times and I wonder if it does wonders. This gel seems like the hot ticket...er....

[masraum]

So, the waterjel stuff, they've got it several places on the net, but they have a bunch of different products, from sprays and lotions to dressings. What's the best to keep around the house for minor burns? So far the burns described have been due to hot fluids, what about touching a hot pot/plate or something like that? I assume it's as effective.

Thanks

[rammstein]

I'll have to get some waterjel to have around and hopefully never need again. Typing doesn't really hurt- its all on the other side. I feel like a baby, because it doesn't look very bad at al today. I just can't imagine how something that hurt that much didn't cause me to lose limbs.

If I ever get a racecar, its going to have the best fire extinguishing system ever. I would not want to be trapped in a burning car. Not now that I know what a burn would feel like.

[RWebb]

nothing you can do once the skin cells are heated to a certain point - then THEY ARE DEAD

cold water real fast & ice bath are best - they limit damage and reduce pain -- leave in for ~20 minutes
- the value is that they are right there at the sink - you are 2 seconds away from treatment
if you run to the bathroom and open the medicine chest, you are 15 secs. away from treatment and that is a LOT

"Next time" just hit the faucet and hold the burned hand under it ASAP. then with the other hand (alternate if both are burned) grab a bowl and ice cubes or chips, run water in ti and plunge the hand(s) in.

after that, greases etc. can provide relief, but they won't save your dead skin cells

various products can promote skin growth & recovery
IIRC, second skin is one

take an analgesic for pain

Good Luck

[vash]

ramm, when you microwave a mug of water, the water is "clean", and the inside of the mug is smooth. there isnt any "tooth" for the bubbles to form in boiling. so i think the water can actually get hotter than boiling temps. it gets super heated. spilling it on yourself is bad. i have seen still water start a rolling boil by gentle agitation. chem class. sorry, i have gotten dumber with age...but this is how i seem to remember it.

float the toothpick or jab in a wooden chopstick. again, rapid recovery buddy.

[slodave]

I burned my hand many years ago. It put me in the hospital for a weekend. I spent any hours in the hyperbaric chamber. Hands are one of the worst things to burn, too many nerves. It didn't matter how much morphine and other drugs they pumped into me, nothing could kill the pain. Healing was fun, I lost a lot of skin.

Glad it was minor.

[vash]

any sympathy "rubdowns" from a naughty candy striper?

[slodave]

All I got, was a chocolate silhouette of Smokey the bear with the words "Help Smokey stamp out hand fires".

[Rikao4]

got you all beat..
no nipples left..
as the good Dr said at the time..your no chick..no biggy..

Rika