In an attempt to clear my head of this stupid cold (that is still hanging on) I plugged in the kettle beside my bed on Tuesday night. Steam always seems to do a good job of clearing up the lungs, head and sinuses whenever I have a nasty cold.
It was all good until I decided to pack it in and go to bed. I guess I didn't reach around the kettle far enough when putting my book away on the bedside table - SCORCH!!!!, before I knew it I had burned my arm. Now, I have burned myself before, granted it hasn't been all that severe, but nevertheless I know what the steam from a kettle feels like. I really did think I was that close to it. Boy was I wrong.
It stung like any burn will, I threw some cold water that was sitting in my water bottle at the side of my bed, onto my arm and continued reading. About 1 minute later, I started to think , "I think this is a little worse than I think it is." I went to the bathroom, got myself a cold cloth, stuck it on my arm and return to bed to read. Again, about 5 minutes later, it starting to really stink, I went back to the bathroom and stuck my arm under the tap and ran some cold water over it.
By this time I had come to the conclusion that this burn was pretty nasty and it need some medical attention. Not having much first aid products in my house I began to ransack the cupboard for something. I came across some Ozonol ointment that said it was ok for minor burns, and located the adhesive tape I knew I had. Good, I have something to kill the pain, now I just need a bandage of some sort. The moment came when I need to become creative, as I didn't have any gauze or bandage to put over the burn. Ahhhh!!!!! a maxi-pad, perfect. I am sure Jeff thought I was losing it when I went downstairs and asked him to tape a maxi-pad on my arm. When you don't have exactly what you need, you make do with what you got.
As for the burn it has started to blister and bubble. It really doesn't look pretty at all. I am sure it is a 1st or 2nd degree burn. Guess I need to be a little more careful next time. I hope it starts healing soon.
4 comments:
Ouch!
Argh! Ouch! Too late now, I expect, but I don't think you should ever put ointment on a recent burn. It seals the heat in, and keeps ya cookin'. You should run cold water over the burn for at *least* 10 minutes, to stop the cooking (literally. You know how a roast keeps cooking after you take it out of the oven? Exact same thing). Don't use ice; that can add frostbite to your problems.
As I recall, first degree = pain and redness. Second degree = pain and blisters and swelling. Third degree = no pain (bad sign, because the nerves are destroyed) and actual charred flesh.
I should update my St. John's thingy...
Thanks Amy! Good advice for next time.
Hopefully there won't be a next time, but good to know.
If it makes you feel any better...I had to duct tape a few (I think three?) pads to my leg one summer thanks to some impressive road rash...we ran out of bandages from our first aid kits. It took 4 years for me to live it down.
The last time I burned myself (stupid story, I'll tell you when you get back)I had to wash off the ointment my Mom insisted we put on. Ouchy-oochy.
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