Why are burns due to chemicals or intense cold also called “burns”? What do they have in common with the regular burns due to fire or heat?

Question

Not sure whether to flair this as biology or physics, but any idea why?

In: Biology

Answer 1

So! I’ve burned myself with acid when I was very young (parents were apartment caretakers and it was a faulty child lock, but that’s another story for another day) and most of my legs are covered with “burns” and I did this when I was around 2-3 years old so I can simplify the answer.

From my experience the difference between a “chemical burn” and a heat one is a chemical , such as acid, doesn’t actually “burn” your skin. My skin never charred or was actually “burnt” it was more technically “eaten” (it looked like my skin turned into a green pancake initially)

Its just a lot easier and less horrifying to say “I burnt myself” rather than “i was partially eaten alive by a chemical”