Different Degrees Of Burns

Burn is an area of tissue damage, caused by heat (including friction and electricity), by cold, by a caustic chemical, or by radiation. Burns are classified according to the depth of the tissue damage.

Each year in the United States, more than 2 million burn injuries demand medical attention. Ten thousand people die every year of burn-related infections. Tragically, many burn victims are children. The good news is that, in recent years, survival statistics for serious burns have improved dramatically. Twenty years ago, for instance, burns covering half the body were routinely fatal. Today, patients with burns encompassing 90 percent of their body surface can survive, albeit sometimes with permanent impairments.

Among the advances that have contributed directly to this public health benefit are discoveries of the importance of proper wound care, adequate nutrition, and infection control.

First-degree burns produce a redness of the skin, like a sunburn, and they heal without scarring.

Second-degree burns cause the destruction of deeper structures within the skin, resulting in blistering.

Third-degree burns destroy the full thickness of the skin, leaving an open area. The deeper tissues (fat or muscle) are also destroyed.

First and second-degree burns tend to be more painful than third-degree burns, because the nerve endings are damaged but not completely destroyed. Extensive third-degree burns are a life-threatening emergency. Large areas of burned skin cause the loss of the body fluid of the surrounding tissues, which can lead to dehydration and the rapid onset of shock, particularly in children. For this reason, intravenous rehydration may be necessary, as well as local treatment and painkilling drugs. Third-degree burns require a skin graft to prevent disfiguring scars. Recent developments in artificial skin hold great promise for burn victims.

Burn-induced skin loss affords bacteria and other microorganisms easy access to the warm, moist, nutrient-rich fluids that course through the body, while at the same time it provides a conduit for the rapid and dangerous loss of these fluids. Extensive blood loss can thrust a burn or trauma victim into shock, a life-threatening condition in which blood pressure plunges so low that vital organs--such as the brain, heart, and kidneys--simply cannot get enough blood (and thereby oxygen) to function. Hence, replenishing skin lost to severe burns is an urgent matter in the care of a burn patient. When a patient has lost 80 or 90 percent of the skin as a result of direct contact with scalding hot liquids, flames, harsh chemicals, electrical current, or nuclear radiation, two immediate tasks come to the fore. First, a burn surgeon must surgically remove the burned skin, then the unprotected underlying tissue must be quickly covered. Two classes of biomaterials useful in covering the wound are laboratory-grown skin cells and artificial skin; the two are sometimes used in combination.

Regardless of the type of burn, the result is fluid accumulation and inflammation in and around the wound. Moreover, it should be noted that the skin is the body's first defense against infection by microorganisms. Damage to the skin can predispose the burn victim to both infection at the site of the wound as well as internally.

First degree thermal burns can be treated with local skin care such as Aloe Vera. Many topical antibiotics and antiseptics are available in the drug store for minor burns.

All second and third degree thermal burns and the complicated locations listed above need immediate physician evaluation. Special topical antiseptic creams are used for more serious burns, including silver sulfdiazine, silver nitrate, and mafenide acetate creams.

PABA (Para-aminobenzoic Acid) helps in the assimilation of protein and pantothenic acid. It is important for normal skin and hair growth. It can protect you against sunburn, prevent wrinkles, reduce the pain of burns and restore grey hair to its natural color.

Proper nutrition may seem far from the minds of a critically injured burn patient or his or her doctor. But delivering the wrong mix of nutrients and minerals into the bloodstream can do more harm than good. NIGMS-funded research by Dr. David Herndon of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston contributed to this conclusion by showing that making the intestinal tract "work" (by feeding the patient by mouth, instead of intravenously) keeps bacteria that normally live in the stomach from seeping into the bloodstream and causing body-wide infections that often lead to deadly septic shock.

The following nutrient combinations are those recommended for the treatment of burns:

Vitamins : A, C, E (internally & topically)
Minerals : Zinc, Postassium
Amino Acids : L-Arginine, L-Ornithine
Food Supplements : Protein, Chlorophyl
Herbs : Aloe Vera

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