– Commonest accidental spillage with children
– Prevention is better than suffering
– It is very painful for the child
– Any accidental hot spillage – immediately clean the area with running tap water
– Do not rub the area – it will increase the pain
– It can create pain shock in the child / do not scold & mentally trouble the child
– Preferably cold water is runned down the raw area – this will reduce the pain / prevent the heat from spreading to deeper tissues .
– Cold compress with a ice wrapped sterile cloth until u reach the hospital will prevent further the heat damage to the deeper tissues .
– Do not apply ink / gentian violet / dettol/ holy ash etc over the raw area as it is very difficult to cleanse from raw area & worsens the pain .
– Give oral medication syrup paracetamol to cover the pain of the child .
– Reach the nearest pediatrician or pediatric surgeon for further help .
– Usually raw areas created by denser fluids like oil & milk are worse than clean plain hot water .
– Superficial scalds / burns have good prognosis
– Smaller areas can be managed by topical medications.
– Largers areas need an artificial covering known as collagen to cover the raw surface until the skin regrows from below.
– Child should be supplemented with lots of fruits & vegetables rich in vitamin E &A for the skin to regrow
– Plenty of liquids should be given to replace the water loss thru the raw area in the skin .
– Doctor might supplement u with oral multivitamin also
– It takes atleast 7-10 days for the new skin to grow & ut becomes painless for the child
– With doctors advice child can be given bath depending on the skin growth
– Deeper wounds may take longer time to heal / it will heal with thicker scar tissue raising above the normal skin level .
– Especially with oil burns – it can create ugly scars which may affect the function of the area involved
– These unhealthy scars will keep remodeling itself for 3-6 months with excess scar tissue deposition
– Hence until 6months , this can be treated with appropriate topical medication as per Doctor advice .
– Anytime itching over the newly growing skin is acceptable .
– If it is troublesome for the child , Doctor will prescribe u oral medication for the same .
– Finally at the end of months if the scar is too thick & ugly , we should opt for a skin grafting( replacing the scar with her own skin taken from the thigh ) .
– This is a surgical procedure done for cosmetic & functional reasons in a child
– Any scarring over head & neck or exposed areas will affect the child ‘s confidence while mingling with peers .
– Hence they have to be attended early / kept minim