Like if you were to touch a really hot pan and then instantly run it under cold water.. I was told that it didn’t stop the burning process, it just made the burn like stunned ? So it’s better to use lukewarm water ..?🙂
In: Biology
It won’t fix the damage that’s already happened, but if your flesh is still at a high enough temperature that damage is ongoing, then the faster you cool it off to below that temperature the better.
Cool water can relieve pain, but very cold water can cause further damage.
Burns remove moisture from the skin. A really bad burn will also cook the area. Make it hard. Then blister then scab.. The best way to treat a burn is to replace the moisture with cold water
Cold water will also kill the pain for a short time
Don’t ever pop a blister or try to remove loose skin. You can use a cold antiseptic gel and if possible place a clean empty plastic bag over the area. Keep it clean as they are prone to infection.
It may stop the burning becoming worse. The inner flesh is getting burned by the outer flesh getting too hot so if you can cool down the outer flesh before it burns the inner it will make the burn smaller. Also you may still have hot things on your skin and in the pores. This is more relevant when getting scolding water over you or embers from a fire.
Cold water does indeed make it feel better as well. But it can actually make the burn worse. If it is too cold it may damage the skin and flesh even more through frost bites. This is essentially the same as a burn from a medical point of view. Due to the burn it can be hard to notice that you get frost bites. So you should avoid ice. Cold is a relative term but the water should not be so cold that you can not hold your hand under it for a few minutes in normal conditions. If you are treating someone elses burns hold your hand under the water with them to feel how cold it is as you can not rely on their sensation of heat and cold.
The biggest killer when it comes to burns is infections. Again the water may help as it is probably cleaner then whatever dirt you have on your skin and in the air. But it can also introduce more bacteria to the wound. Warmer waters tends to have more bacteria then cold water. But this is something to consider when treating a burn.
I always thought running a burn under cold water was the way to go, but now I see the importance of using lukewarm water instead. It’s interesting to learn how burns actually work and how we can properly treat them.
I burnt my hand a few months ago quite badly. Picked up a pan that had been in the oven.
Apparently the right thing to do is to put it in a bowl of coldish water. Make sure to stretch your hand as well, this is because the skin will contract and this can prevent it from splitting later. Not ice or fridge cold but cold to touch. Do that for 20 mins, wrap it in cling film so no air gets to it and go to the hospital. They will then clean it if necessary, put some burn gel on and then bandage you up.
It’s all about energy transfer. When you burn yourself, energy tries to push through your molecules to fast and it wrecks them. Cold water takes up energy so it helps. The deper the energy is in your body the harder it is to pull it out. too cold pulls out energy to fast and that again fcks with your molecules.
To use a macabre but apt example, if you know how cooking a steak works, you know exactly how a burn works.
Surface temps are higher than internal temps, cooking the outside at high heat will eventually transfer heat inwards (why internal temps keep rising after taking it off the heat and resting is important) and cooking it for longer makes it drier.
Heat continues to transfer into the flesh even after you take your appendage off the heat source, because surface temps are higher than internal temps. What you’ve got to do is give the heat somewhere cooler to transfer to than your insides, so cool water. Since our blood is constantly moving, it is efficient at carrying away heat, so you need something better to carry away the heat to somewhere that’s not you, so RUNNING water is recommended, and not something static like ice or a water bath.
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