Home Remedies for Burns

The intensity of burns are graded to 'first', 'second' and 'third' degree depending on the extent of tissue damage. Second degree burns cause immediate blistering and third degree, where the skin will appear white or charred, require medical attention and so the following remedies should only be used for those with 'first degree' where the skin is reddened and painful.

For historical reasons there is often some confu­sion about whether the best immediate treatment for burns is cold water or some soothing oily compound such as olive oil or butter. Prior to the Second World War cold water was believed to be dangerous for burns as being more likely to be followed by infection and butter or olive oil were advocated instead. During the War, however, this view was turned on its head and water was found to be highly effective. The belief that oily compounds were valuable clearly persisted - a point well illustrated by Mr. S. A. Skinner from Watford:

'Over sixty years ago, when I was about ten years old, holidaying on a farm during haymaking I mistakenly leaned on the tractor and put my hand (palm and fingers) on the exhaust manifold. As you can imagine, I received a very severe burn. We set off back to the farmhouse in search of the then treatment - olive oil! Unfortunately none was found and I was in such pain that I put my hand under the cold spring that flowed out of the farmhouse water supply. Each time J withdrew my hand the pain returned so I stayed there most of the afternoon. When I finally took my hand away-maybe after two or three hours - there was no more pain. There were no blisters, no scarring and no after-effects at all. My daughter sub­sequently became the Sister in Charge of the Regional Burns Unit and it seems that my acci­dental treatment was about fifty years ahead of its time.'

Cold water is the immediate first aid remedy for burns but contributors have also suggested a vari­ety of other useful agents that can be applied to ease the pain and stinging over the subsequent days until the burn has healed.

Potatoes: Potatoes are the most frequently cited of the food based remedies for burns and can be applied raw, as potato skins or mashed. 'As a child playing at being a blacksmith, I burnt my fingers badly. My mother boiled potatoes, mashed them and wrapped my hands in the mash. They soon healed without any scars.' Mrs. Mary King from Suffolk.

Tea: Tea, too, has its advocates and is easily applied in the form of teabags. 'Used and wet teabags should be applied, being kept moist until the pain has been reduced - being kept on for several hours if necessary. This will often prevent blistering where it would otherwise have occurred. It is, of course, the tannic acid in the tea that is effective/ Mr. G. V. Pride from Dorset.

Aloe vera: Aloe vera seems to be a panacea for all ills. Ms. J. Orritt from Winchester reports: 'As a sufferer from multiple sclerosis with poor coordi­nation, I am frequently burning or scalding myself but since discovering aloe vera I have no fear as it is guaranteed to work/ Aloe vera may be kept as a plant in the kitchen - when all that is necessary is to break off a leaf and squeeze the moisture onto the affected skin or alternatively it can be obtained in a gel form from most pharmacists or health food shops.

I have heard of two further unusual remedies which are perhaps more difficult to recommend. The first is heat. Blacksmiths and others working with hot metal strongly believe that the best treatment for burns was heat as Mr. T. R. Pearce from Middles-brough recalls:

I began my apprenticeship in marine engineer­ing in 1936 and was soon set to work with plumbers. Copper pipes were brazed together but gloves were not worn and burns were frequent. The first time I was careless enough to grasp the hot part of a pipe in error, I was quickly taken to the brazier and my hand held over it for a few minutes until I could no longer bear it.

The second is nasal secretions. Mr. Jeremy Nichols from East Lothian reports an old Suffolk black­smith's somewhat off-putting treatment for burns which he learnt while farming in East Anglia:

'Following a burn, blow your nose and apply the result on as liberally as possible on the painful area.'

Mr. Nichols and his wife say they have benefited from this treatment for the past 25 years, but admit that 'all our medical friends have shown polite interest in our claims but have shown great reluc­tance to try it out for themselves!'