Tag Archives: Healing

The Progression of a Burn

December 13th, 2012 | Brain

The human body has a truly amazing capacity to heal itself.  Below, you will find one such case – the dorsal side of this unlucky left hand was burned in a kitchen fire.

In the quotes below each picture, you’ll find notes from the Redditor who suffered through the experience.

Warning: the hand burn images can be a bit graphic! However, it’s fascinating to witness how the skin heals from day to day.  Enjoy!

Hand Burn

“Burn Day 1 – this is the only day that my hand actually hurt. It started to swell and blister.”

Hand Burn

“Burn Day 2 – I was keeping it wrapped in gauze and using ointment. No pain at all, just this terrifying blister.”

This signifies to me that the burn is pretty deep.  The fact that he feels no pain at all implies nerve damage.

Hand Burn

“Burn Day 3 – this is the day I finally went to a walk in clinic. The doctor looked at it for 45 seconds, told me to put bacitracin on it, and charged me $113. ‘Murica.”

Burn Day 4 – Blister Grows, Incredible

“Burn Day 5 – it finally popped while I was sleeping, but I kept my hand wrapped in gauze, so no mess.”

“Burn Day 7 – I thought it was looking pretty good.”

“Burn Day 8 – the dead layer has sloughed off. Oh god, the shiny new skin. Fun fact: If I held my hand above my head, every time my heart beat, that whole area would flash bright red.”

Burn Day 9 – Continued healing

“This is my hand a year and a half later. There is just a little discoloration on my knuckles and a barely visible oval on the back of my hand between my thumb and index finger.”

To determine the scale of a burn, you must know the depth of injury to the dermis.

A 1st degree burn implies that the burn only involves the outermost layer of skin called the epidermis.  These burns are usually red, dry, painful and heal in about a week.

2nd degree burns extend into the next layer of skin, the dermis.  These involve blistering and are usually painful and may result in some scarring.  Infection starts to become a concern.

3rd degree burns are burns that extend through the FULL thickness of the skin.  These are stiff, white/brown, painless and often lead to scarring and possibly amputation.

4th degree burns are as nasty as it gets.  They extends all the way through skin, subcutaneous tissue and into underlying muscle and bone.  Click here if you have a strong stomach.

I’d say the hand burn above is a pretty bad 2nd degree burn (blistering) with some elements of 3rd degree due to the nerve damage.

If you want to learn more about how to identify and treat burns, check out this book:

Burns: A Practical Approach to Immediate Treatment and Long Term Care

-RSB