Modern burn treatment started around the Second World War when sulphanilamide, penicillin and plasma became available for clinical use. They were efficient remedies against the two most usual deadly complications of deep burns, shock and infection. Before 1940 in Europe, a person with over 30 per cent of their skin was most like to die. Now these patients can attain multi-disciplinary treatment in a well-equipped and highly specialized burn unit.

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

The clinical 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 reduced rate of blood flow to vital organs. If there is not enough blood circulating to these organs, they are deprived of the oxygen they require to work. The severity of shock generally matches the amount of skin that has been burned, that is shown as a percentage of the complete surface of the body. There are respiratory problems if the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the organism. This is more likely if the patient has also been affected by smoke inhalation.

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

Burns are classified by the the depth of the burn and the percentage of body area it covers. The burn wound is treated by hospital personnel once or twice a day and then dressed, commonly with treatment products designed to destroy microbes (a burn cream called a topical antibiotic), gauze and bandages. Dressings means anything the nurses apply on or around the lesion. Paraffin-imbued gauze is good because it won’t stick to the lesion. Modern see-through dressings are best, as the lesion can cure beneath what seems like transparent plastic sheeting. The healing progress can be monitored and the skin doesn’t need to be examined so often and so cures more quickly. The see-through dressings are very costly, but not if measured in terms of less scarring, minimizing pain and quicker healing. Conventional bandages can be reused after being washed, 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 natural ingredients.

– Kathleen LeRoi