Helpful (?) (!) Advice for burns

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  • Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

I spilled hot coffee on my lap a week ago, giving me second degree burns on my thigh. I was in a restaurant, so I RAN to the bathroom (10 seconds) while holding my clothes out from my body. Once in the bathroom, the pants came down, and I put sloppy wet cold paper towels on the burn, changing them out as they warmed. The blisters covered an area about two thirds the size of my palm. It's healing well, in part because I did NOT follow all the advice I was given.

1. "You should have sprayed it with Windex; that prevents blisters."

2. "You should have poured ice water over it."

3. "You should have put ice on the blisters; that way, the blisters harden and don't spread."

4. You should have kept ice on it for 24 hours."

5. "You should have gone straight to ER!"

... What "helpful" advice have you heard people give?

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Windex????????

My late mother-in-law would put bacon grease on a burn. She ALWAYS had a coffee can of it. Not surprisingly, everyone on that side of the family dies of heart disease....but I digress.

Kitiger, RN

1,834 Posts

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

Yes, Windex! She was dead serious.

Maybe it helped cool the burn when water wasn't available? Myself, I would not put chemicals on a fresh burn, unless it was physician-ordered. (I'm thinking antibiotic ointment ...)

Somehow, nobody offered bacon grease. Maybe people are learning ...

vanilla bean

861 Posts

Apply egg whites. Still don't know if this is legit advice or not, but it might go good with the bacon grease ;)

Kitiger, RN

1,834 Posts

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
Apply egg whites. Still don't know if this is legit advice or not, but it might go good with the bacon grease ;)

Good one. :)

Of course, we're not supposed to eat anything with raw eggs, like cookie dough, because of Salmonella. I wouldn't want that on my burn. Infection control was my biggest worry, after the initial pain/panic.

Specializes in Hospital medicine; NP precepting; staff education.

Mustard.

Kitiger, RN

1,834 Posts

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
Mustard.

Now, that's different, although it might go with the eggs & bacon.

Why would someone want mustard on a burn?

Guttercat, ASN, RN

1,353 Posts

Why would someone want mustard on a burn?

Because it goes well with freshly cooked meat.

BSN16

389 Posts

Specializes in ICU, trauma.

Just rub some Vick's on it, you'll be fine. Vick's works for EVERYTHING! ;)

Specializes in Hospital medicine; NP precepting; staff education.

The vinegar and/or the tumeric soothes the burn. I use it at home and I'm not the only one. Just last night I had a young woman (late 20s?) come in with mustard all over her hand from cleaning a flat topped stove and the towel slipped out of her hand. I had to clean the mustard off to fully assess the superficial burn. She had one blister at the base of her thumb but I could see where some of the redness was already improving.

Anonymous865

483 Posts

Windex????????

My late mother-in-law would put bacon grease on a burn. She ALWAYS had a coffee can of it. Not surprisingly, everyone on that side of the family dies of heart disease....but I digress.

You must not have seen the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The bride's father put Windex on every type injury.

Watch the movie sometime. It was funny and sweet. A family joke now is if anyone gets a cut, bite, or burn, we yell, "Get the Windex."

kakamegamama

1,030 Posts

Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.
Yes, Windex! She was dead serious.

Maybe it helped cool the burn when water wasn't available? Myself, I would not put chemicals on a fresh burn, unless it was physician-ordered. (I'm thinking antibiotic ointment ...)

Somehow, nobody offered bacon grease. Maybe people are learning ...

Maybe she was a fan of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"??????

Turpentine elixer for dosing when one has a bad, bad cough was advice once upon a time given to me by my mother-in-law. I about died when she told me she had been taking doses of it for a week due to a cough that wouldn't go away.......

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