How to Deal with Burn Lesions

Modern burn therapy started around the Second World War when sulphanilamide, penicillin and plasma were clinically used for the first time. They were efficient remedies against the two most usual killing complications of deep burns, infection and shock. Before 1940 in Europe, a patient with more than 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.

Important improvements have appeared since the 1940s, reflected by better healing time, lower mortality rates and restored function. This is due to the creation of burn research units, an improved knowledge of the burn wound and new, enhanced treatments.

The clinical team's main concern is not the burn scar or burn wound itself, but the patient's life-support systems for respiration and blood circulation. The patient can die from breathing problems or from shock. Shock is characterized by a decreased rate of circulation to the essential organs. If the blood flow to these organs is insufficient, they are deprived of the oxygen they require to work. The severity of shock usually matches the burn area, that is expressed as a percentage of the complete surface of the body. There are respiratory issues if the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the organism. This is more likely if the patient has also suffered from smoke inhalation.

Shock, smoke inhalation, the size of the burn and the extension of a possible third-degree lesion determines a patient's immediate chances for survival after a burn injury. The success rate of skin care interventions depends on the age of the burn victim, the area of the burn, and the severity 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 one or two times a day and then dressed, commonly with treatment products created to destroy germs (a burn cream called a topical antibiotic), gauze and bandages. Dressings implies anything the nurses put on or around the wound. Paraffin-impregnated gauze is adequate because it doesn't stick to the wound. Modern transparent dressings are best, as the wound can heal beneath what seems like clear plastic sheeting. The healing process can be monitored and the skin doesn't require to be examined so often and so cures more quickly. The transparent dressings are very expensive, but not if we consider advantages like minimizing pain, less scarring and quicker healing. Conventional bandages can be washed and reused while plastic-like sheets are used once.

Avoid the complications of solar damage and severe skin burns applying a new skin care product produced only with biological ingredients.

- Kathleen LeRoi