Pls help - advice re burn / scarring

Hi everyone,

I KNOW this isn't a medical forum, but I know I can always rely on you guys for good advice!

A week ago I burned my leg really badly on the tail-pipe of my hubby's Harley. (Stooooopid mistake - I just haven't been on a bike for ages and I wasn't concentrating!)

I immediately flushed with cold water for 10 - 15 mins. Blistering started about 1 hour later. Went to the Doctor the next day, he recommended just letting it dry out......

Four days ago, the entire "top" came off it after I bathed....but it still seemed to be healing nicely, and not really very sore...

Two days ago it was really red and sore, so I went back to the doctor, Saw a different Doctor, who told me the wound is septic, so put me on strong anti-biotics. Also said that my clothes may be irritating it by rubbing against it. (I have to wear long skirts or slacks as I am in a Muslim country), so advised me to cover with a light gauze dressing during the day and leave open at night.

This morning it felt "tight", like the skin was stretched, and when covered all day got really moist and "icky"

Can anyone give me some advice on how to promote the healing / minimise the scarring??? It's a 2nd degree burn, and about 4 inches by 3 inches - I'm really upset about having an ugly scar on my leg for the rest of my life!:(


Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

Julie

I am not sure if this is good for a 2nd degree burn or not. But do you have access to an aloe vera plant? When I was young and worked for Domino's Pizza I burned my arm on the oven door. My manager broke off a piece of this aloe vera plant and rubbed it on the burn. It hurt like the dickens but it didn't scar. I also know that you don't want to expose the burn to the sun at all.

Hope that helps a little? *shrug*

Denyce

http://www.mederma.com/

Check out this sight. I've heard from a co worker that this made all the difference in her scars and their site says it works for surgery, accidents, burns, acne & stretch marks.

Hope you feel better soon.

OUCH! Oh my, I'm so sorry you had to get hurt like that. :( I know that rubbing aloe vera on a wound helps. When I get a burn, my mom usually puts honey on it and makes me keep it on for several hours. It may burn a little, but it makes the inflamation go down and also prevents a scar from developing. I've done it on several burns and it worked, although I can't say for a big burn like that. :eek: You might want to try that. Also, try to refrain from going out to much, because the sun in Bahrain is HOT especially at this time of the year, and the heat can even penetrate through your clothes. Good luck and hope your wound heals soon!

this is a way to keep the scarring down.....


but it's friggin gross and kinda disgusting....
lol, which is o.k. for me because i'm a guy.
it worked for me!!

Dermicel tape.

it's that plastic tape with the little holes in it. i had a road rash injury (damn motorcycles!)
and i got tired of changing the gauze and tape so
what I did is cleaned up the wound and applied the
tape directly to the wound....i know, i know...
the tape became a 'second skin' it let the wound 'weep' and i was able to apply ointment to it...
as the wound healed the tape would begin to pull up from the skin. i kept the edges trimmed and soon the tape completely fell off....NO SCAR!!!!!


the tape will pick up fuzz and 'blue jean blue'
but i had no problems-I do not recommend it for
wounds on the face or exposed areas...(you can disguise it with a standard gauze pad, but remember! once you apply the tape it's there until
it completely heals!!!)

I had 2ed degree burns all across my back about 3-4 summers ago. The biggest boo boo I made was put the aloe-vera after burn on it. It dryed up & caused my skin to harden & shrink. I couldn't remove my shirt for a month, couldn't bathe for the month & it was summer time & I was still at school. The pain was unreal. I had to sleep on my belly at night (which was ok) but then I had to slither off my bed, because I couldn't move my shoulder at all.

I leter went to see the Dr. & he gave me a cream to put on it, it made if feel much nicer, but it still took 3 months to heal. It left brown dots all across my back & when I get a small sun burn (like right now) the dots get really really dark & nasty... I'm a very white person, & now my back doesn't match the rest of me.. oi evil sun.

I just wish I knew what the name of the cream was so I could tell you.

I also agree that aloe vera works great.

Do you have any witch hazel? I'd put that on it, it keeps down swelling and reduces pain.

I got a pretty bad motorcycle muffler burn when I was younger, and there is no scar today. I think it took a year or so to disappear, but it went completely away. I didn't do anything special outside of keeping antibiotic cream and covering it for the first few days. I let it heal in the air after a few days.

Vitamin E (break the tablet open and rub the goo on the spot) and aloe vera are supposed to work well.

I had laser done on my face-there's this stuff called New Skin-it's gelled water- comes in big patches it hydrates the skin and stops infection-athletes use it on blisters and then after about 4 days of applying that- it's Mederma time. The New Skin feels sooo good. Hope you get better-ouch.

I'd follow your doctor's recommendation first, but I know that vitamin E oil worked for me. Try either vitamin E oil (a thick, liquid oil that comes in a small plastic bottle) or, as someone else suggested, break open an actual vitamin and use the goo.

Thanks for all the great advice.

Richard - I dont know if I am brave enough to try your Dermical solution :eek:

Popcornbird - you are so right about the heat here at the moment - although the real problem is the humidity - it's up to 95% already, and we still have most of July and August to get through! I think that's one of the reasons the wound is taking so long to dry out - with the constant humidity skin infections etc are much harder to treat!

I have ordered some Mederma off the net - hopefully it will take away the worst of the scarring!