Burns

Burns

Just had to peek at that pot roast, didn’t you? Yep, you opened the oven and lifted the tinfoil—and the baking dish stung your hand like a hornet. Now you have a throbbing little burn, and supper is going to have to wait.

There are three types of burns. First-degree burns look like red patches on your skin and can be painful. Second-degree burns cause blisters and hurt even more. Third-degree burns, the most serious, leave your skin charred or waxy. They hurt very little, since they usually cause damage to the nerve endings that send pain impulses to your brain. Don’t mess with third-degree burns; seek emergency help immediately. The natural remedies in this chapter—used in conjunction with medical care and with the approval of your doctor—may help relieve the discomfort of minor burns, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When...

You get any third-degree burn.
You get a first- or second-degree burn that covers a large area of skin and is extremely painful.
Your burn becomes infected; watch for blisters that fill with a brownish or greenish fluid.

Aromatherapy

In the 1920s, the founder of modern aromatherapy, French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé, discovered the burn-healing power of lavender quite by accident. After burning his hand in a laboratory accident, he quickly dunked it in pure lavender oil and was surprised by how quickly the skin healed. Use a few drops of undiluted lavender directly on the burn, recommends Los Angeles aromatherapist Michael Scholes, of Aromatherapy Seminars, an organization that trains professionals and others in the use of essential oils.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Ayurveda

Add a pinch of turmeric to fresh aloe vera gel (available in most health food stores) and apply the paste to the burned area, then cover the area with gauze, says Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc., director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wash off and reapply the paste two to four times a day, re-covering the area each time, until the burn heals. Turmeric can stain the skin, warns Dr. Lad, but any discoloration should wash off in about two weeks.

Dr. Lad also suggests using fresh cilantro juice on a burn. To make the juice, he says, put cilantro leaves and water in a blender, using enough of each ingredient to make a puree that will cover the burned area. Dr. Lad suggests applying this mixture two teaspoons at a time, three times a day, directly to the burned skin, covering the area with gauze. Continue the treatment as necessary, he says.

Food Therapy

Milk is great for minor (first-degree) burns—but place it on the burn rather than drink it, says Stephen M. Purcell, D.O., chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He recommends that you soak the burned area in whole milk for 15 minutes or so or apply a milk-soaked washcloth. He says to repeat either treatment every two to six hours as needed for pain. Just be sure to rinse your skin (and the washcloth) afterward, says Dr. Purcell, because the milk will smell bad as it warms up.

Herbal Therapy

Try fresh aloe vera for burns, says Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Studies show that aloe vera helps new cells form and hastens healing, according to Dr. Tyler. He suggests keeping a plant on a sunny windowsill for treating minor (first-degree) burns. To use, he says, cut open one of the plant’s fleshy leaves and squeeze out the clear gel, applying it directly to the affected area three or four times a day. Aloe vera heals best in the open air, so leave the burn uncovered, he adds.

Homeopathy

“There are great remedies for burns,” says Mitchell Fleisher, M.D., a family practice physician and homeopath in Colleen, Virginia. To treat a minor (first-degree) burn, he recommends that you put 20 drops of Calendula tincture in four ounces of water and bathe the skin with it four to six times a day until the pain goes away or the burn heals. He says you can also use Urtica urens as a tincture in the same way as Calendula or you can take 6C or 12C tablets every two to three hours as needed to relieve the pain. If it’s a stinging, swollen burn, Dr. Fleisher says to try a 6C or 12C dose of Apis every two to three hours until the pain goes away.

If you have a second-degree burn, a burn that has blistered and is extremely painful, you should seek medical attention immediately. But as additional therapy, Dr. Fleisher recommends taking a 12C or 30C dose of Causticum or Cantharis once every 30 to 60 minutes until the pain is relieved.

All of these remedies can be purchased in many health food stores. To purchase homeopathic remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Hydrotherapy

For minor (first-degree) burns, hold the area under cold water until the pain subsides, suggests Charles Thomas, Ph.D., a physical therapist at Desert Springs Therapy Center in Desert Hot Springs, California, and co-author of Hydrotherapy: Simple Treatments for Common Ailments. Then, he says, switch to slightly warmer water (a little cooler than body temperature) and keep the burned area in the water until there’s no pain when you take it out of the water. After this treatment, apply a little aloe vera gel, suggests Dr. Thomas. Aloe vera gel is available in most health food stores.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

“Any healing tissue can benefit from 10,000 international units of vitamin A twice daily, 15 milligrams of zinc once daily and a minimum of 500 milligrams of vitamin C two or three times daily,” says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition. He recommends continuing the supplements for a full three weeks after you get the burn, even if it heals sooner, so your skin has the vitamins it needs to rebuild properly.