Had a family come in to the ER last night. Their little boy (~3yo) got ahold of the pot of boiling water on the stove. Clear 2nd degree burns to (I'd say) at least 30% of the inside of his arm. Little guy had dark skin, but the burn basically sloughed down to reveal bright pink flesh.
The family put sugar (!) on the burn at home. When they brought him in, the RN had to clean the wound and basically the sugar just debrided the fresh burn even more. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out the logic behind putting sugar on a burn I even Googled it and the only thing I can tell is people sometimes put it on a burned tongue. Then I was thinking that sugar on a burn probably makes an awesome growth medium for bacteria. I told the family very firmly that they must leave the dressing intact until the burn unit followed up with them - all I could imagine was them taking the dressing off and putting some other mystery substance on it. Then they refused 1/2 the kid's pain meds, but I digress.
Have you guys heard of this, or other wonky "home remedies" that you've seen come through the doors?
I even Googled it and the only thing I can tell is people sometimes put it on a burned tongue. Then I was thinking that sugar on a burn probably makes an awesome growth medium for bacteria. I told the family very firmly that they must leave the dressing intact until the burn unit followed up with them - all I could imagine was them taking the dressing off and putting some other mystery substance on it. Then they refused 1/2 the kid's pain meds, but I digress.