Why don't you put ice on a burn?!
Question:
Why don't you put ice on a burn?
I've always wondered why you don't put ice on a burn, anybody know why?
Answers:
cold water is the best first aid when you burn yourself - 20 minutes under the tap is ideal. NEVER ice or vinegar or milk or butter or mustard or toothpaste or sunscreen or semen or vaseline or vanilla extract- not until it is fully healed!
ok thats my standard internet burn advice (the first bit anyway)
ice isn't put on a burn because it makes it worse - its too cold. the burnt area needs to be cooled but you also have to protect unburnt areas.
in a burn there are three zones -
Zone of Survival
Zone of Damage
Zone of Necrosis
the necrosis zone is lost - everything is damaged and the body will clear it out or the surgeon will scrap it off.
the zone of survival is a little red- its basically normal skin, tough and resistant - just flushed,
the zone of damage or stasis is the important one. with good medical and nursing care this will regenerate, conversely if the wrong things or nothing is die it to will die.
years ago in burns units operation would be left several days until the burn had 'converted'. or deepened - this zone died then they would operate. now it is known that with good treatment it can repaired and saved, this minimises the need for skin grafts, scarring, infection, length of hospital stay and so on.
ice on a burn causes very strong vasoconstriction in surrounding tissues, almost shutting off the blood supply to the area. this effectively is a death sentence to the zone of damage - toxins need to be removed and lots of nutrients and water is needed to repair the cells. while the zone of necrosis holds a lot of heat and can continue expanding and so cooling down is necessary it must be balanced against other factors.
hope this answers your query
email if you still have questions
feedingthedogcustard@hotmail.c...