What to do if the skin turns black after a burn

Being accidentally burned is a very painful thing. Even if the area is not large, it will feel very painful. At this time, you must treat it immediately. If you don’t know what to do, it is best to seek help from a professional doctor to avoid infection. However, some people find that the skin turns black after a burn, which looks ugly and like an infection. What should you do if your skin turns black after a burn?

In our lives, we often encounter skin burns, which are especially common in summer. Don't panic after getting burned. Choose the right treatment method based on the severity of the burn.

Severity of burns

First-degree burns are the mildest type of burns and only damage the surface of the skin, causing mild local redness and swelling, no blisters, and obvious pain.

Second-degree burns and moderate burns not only damage the epidermis, but also the middle layer of the skin, causing blisters and obvious pain.

Third degree burns are the most serious burns. The subcutaneous tissue, fat and muscles are all damaged and the burnt skin appears gray or reddish brown, or even turns black and burnt. At this time, due to nerve damage, the patient may not feel pain.

Steps/Methods

1. Rinse the wound with tap water. Whether it is a scald caused by boiling water or steam, you should first lower the temperature of the scalded skin to reduce further damage to the scalded area. At the same time, flushing with water can also reduce pain. If the wound is not broken, soak it for about 10 minutes. If the wound has broken, do not soak it again to avoid infection. If the burn area is too large, soak the entire body in the bathtub. You can also use a towel dipped in water to apply to areas that cannot be washed with water.

2. Don't take off your clothes in a hurry. When the burn is in an area covered by clothes, don't take off your clothes in a hurry to avoid tearing the blisters caused by the burn. You can rinse with water to cool down first, and then carefully remove the clothes.

3. Deal with blisters correctly. If there are blisters on the burn site, whether to break them should be analyzed based on the specific situation. Generally, do not break them to avoid leaving scars. However, sometimes large blisters or blisters located at joints that are more easily broken need to be broken with a sterilized needle. If the blisters have already broken, use a sterilized cotton swab to wipe off the liquid flowing out from around the blisters.

4. Bandage with gauze. Apply some ointment on the burn first, then bandage with clean gauze. Untie the gauze after two days and check the wound. If there is improvement, continue to apply some ointment and then bandage again. Generally, burns can heal within two weeks, but if the wound is found to be infected, you should seek medical treatment immediately.

5. Protect the wound well. The burned area should be kept away from direct sunlight. The bandaged wound should not come into contact with water. The burned area should not be moved too much to avoid friction between the wound and the gauze, which will increase the healing time of the wound.

6. How to deal with third-degree burns: When the burn is too severe, if it reaches the third degree, it should be covered or exposed with clean gauze first, and then quickly sent to the hospital for medical treatment. Do not apply medicine on the wound.

Precautions

Do not use ice to cool the wound, as the temperature may be too low and the already damaged skin may get worse.

Do not apply toothpaste immediately after being scalded. Toothpaste will make the heat from the skin have nowhere to dissipate, so it can only diffuse deep into the subcutaneous tissue, thus causing deeper damage.

Do not use soy sauce to treat wounds. First, soy sauce does not have healing properties. Second, the color of soy sauce can affect the doctor’s diagnosis.