What are the Different Types of Burns

Overview

Suffering from burns can severely affect your personal and financial life. 

 

You can get inflicted by burn damage in many ways, ranging from accidental small burns to severe thermal, chemical, and electrical burns. A serious burn can result in complete destruction of your muscles, tissues, and bones. 

 

According to several reports, 75 % of child burn injuries can be averted. That said, anyone can become a victim. As a result, it’s imperative to understand the various types of burns for better protection. Availing a burns cover can also be helpful. 

 

Let’s learn more about the various types of burns below.

Different types of burns

Burn injuries occur when you come in contact with materials like hot liquid, high thermal energies, or radiation. Understanding these various types of burns can aid you in taking better protection against different kinds of burns. 

 

Let us understand some of the most common varieties of burn injuries now:

1. Thermal burns

Typically, fire burns occur when your body experiences extra heat from external sources like hot metal, steam, or large fires. These can cause extensive damage to tissues. In such cases, choosing the right type of treatment is critical depending on the location and the severity of the thermal burn. 

However, you can incorporate the following steps to ensure safety against thermal burns:

 

• Step 1: Rush to a hospital for urgent medical treatment.

• Step 2: Take out the fire or the flame that’s in contact with your body. 

• Step 3: Sprinkle and pour cool materials or water over the affected area to avoid further damage. Don’t use ice as a cooling agent as it might deteriorate the condition of the burnt area.

• Step 4: If your burn injury is mild, then using ibuprofen and a cool wet cloth compressed on the affected area can be effective for finding relief from the pain. Alternatively, you can also use burn creams and other related ointments for healing from the fire injury.      

• Step 5: You can also choose to loosely tie a sterile bandage in the burned area if you got affected by a more severe fire burn. Seek medical attention quickly as several complications can arise from fire burns like skin blisters.

2. Chemical Burns 

Chemical burns, also known as caustic burns, occur when corrosive chemicals come in contact with your skin, mouth, or eyes. Chemical burns are common in homes, schools, and domestic settings, resulting from accidents to misuse of products. 

 

It’s also found that most chemical burns occur at home. However, it’s equally important to remember that the chances of dealing with caustic burns are way higher in a workplace with large quantities of corrosive chemicals. Such corrosive chemicals include chlorine, ammonia and battery acid, etc. You can follow the steps to take instant protection against chemical burns:

 

• Step 1: Wash the affected area with water for at least 10 minutes. If any chemical has entered your eye, be sure to wash your eye for at least 20 minutes to reduce additional damage, as caustic burns can show effects after a long time.

• Step 2: Call the nearest hospital institution after checking some basic factors of the affected area due to caustic burn. The factors are:

          1. The induced chemical burn area

You should seek immediate medical treatment if the caustic burn created an area larger than three inches.

          2. Location of the caustic burn

Seeking proper medical assistance is necessary if your burn is situated on your hands, and face, as treating open caustic burns can be complicated.  

          3. Pain after medication

Persisting pain due to caustic burn injuries can be a bad sign. Consider seeking professional medical help for a permanent solution.

 

Medical treatments for thermal and caustic burns are similar in many ways:

 

1. Intravenous fluids for maintaining the temperature of the body and enabling speedy recovery.

2. Covering damaged skin with healthy skin to close the burn wound. 

3. Getting rid of dead skin cells and tissues. 

  4. Electrical burns 

Electrical burns take place when your body connects naked electricity.

Our bodies are full of water, which is a conductor of electricity, as opposed to resistants. Therefore, we’re very susceptible to getting electric burns if we suddenly come in contact with a strong electric current in our bodies. It has been found the most common cause of electric burns is coming in contact with damaged extension cords with bad insulation. 

 

When an electrical charge flows through anybody, it can damage or impair organs depending on the scale of the current. In any such cases, it is vital to seek medical attention immediately as it can affect your nervous system and other organs terminally.

  5. Friction burns 

This type of burn is the least severe and is the most common form of burn. 

 

Friction burn happens when your skin is rubbed against another surface or an uneven surface. Most friction burns heal on their own in a week or 10 days. However, seeking medical treatment is wise if your friction burn is severe.  

  6. Radiation burns

Also known as dermatitis, Radiation burns are a side complication that arises from a therapy treatment that cures cancer. Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiations that are very effective in killing cancer cells. However, this radiation can cause damage to the skin cells in a particular area. Getting radiation therapy frequently can slow down skin regeneration and cause skin blisters. Technically, radiation burns are not burns, but the wound can look and feel like one. 

 

Here are some tips that you can follow to give your skin the time to regenerate and get better quickly: 

 

• Avoid sunlight as exposure to naked sun rays can cause further irritation.

• Wear loose clothing so that your wound is not festered by the clothing.

• Regularly clean your radiation burn area for fast healing. 

Burn Classification

Typically, most burns are divided into 3  or four sections depending on the intensity and severity of the burns. Let’s discuss these three burn classifications in the passages below. 

First-degree burns

Any type of burn damage that affects the outermost layer of your skin (epidermic) can be called a first-degree burn. A first-degree may appear as a reddish burn which can be painful and dry. 

Second-degree burns  

Burns that damage both the epidermis and the dermis are considered to be second-degree burns. Generally, A burn site of second-degree burns can be full of blisters, with symptoms of swelling and red spots.

Third-degree burns

Third-degree burns impact your innermost skin layers, the subcutaneous tissue, the epidermis, and the dermis. Third-degree burns can also severely affect your hair follicles, sweat glands, and other layers of skin. 

Skin-grafting is one of the most popular medical treatments against third burn injuries. Sometimes, in extreme cases, people also suffer from fourth-degree burns, which destroy all the nerves in the impact area, resulting in a loss of sensation.  

Conclusion 

Medical complications arising from burn injuries and accidents are not surprising in everyday life. Taking the right health protection plan can aid you in times of duress. For good protection, choose the exclusive Burns Cover via Bajaj Markets, which can provide you with financial assistance to avail world-class health benefits and treatment for burn injuries.