Whether you're whipping up a festive feast for Christmas or making a hot cup of instant noodles for a cold night, getting a burn in the kitchen is bound to happen. An oil spill here and some boiling water overflowing elsewhere and in seconds a scalding leads to a bad burn.
If you do get an accidental cooking burn, the first thing you should do is run cold water over the burn site until the burning feeling subsides. Running cold water immediately over the burn not only helps to lessen the severity of the burn, but also cleans the burn wound of any foreign material that can cause infections.
Once the burning sensation fades, gently pat dry the burned area with a clean cloth and apply a thin layer of ointment over it. Contrary to popular belief, toothpaste, soy sauce and other popular home remedies do not help with burns, so leave them where they belong. If blisters begin to form, leave them be - popping a blister can introduce bacteria into your burn wound and cause an infection.1
Protect your burn wound by lightly taping or wrapping a sterile, non-stick gauze over it, and changing the dressing everyday. Make sure to avoid dressings that shed fibres as they may get caught in the burn.1 If you experience pain during the recovery process, you can take over-the-counter pain medication to alleviate it.1 Minor burns can take up to 3 weeks to heal, and it may itch during the healing - do not scratch that itch!1
Once your burn wound has closed, you may notice some scarring. Generally, the deeper a burn is, the more likely it is to scar.1 At this point, if you have been treating your burn with wound ointment, you should stop the treatment as it is no longer a wound, but a scar. Instead, you should quickly begin treatment with scar reduction products such as Dermatix® once the skin is dry. Dermatix® works together with your body's natural healing processes to minimise scarring2 - so the earlier you begin treatment, the more effective the scar reduction will be.
With the right care and treatment, you'll be confidently cooking up a storm again in no time at all!
