How do I treat a minor burn?

The first twenty minutes decide how badly a burn scars and how much it hurts. Cooling stops the heat continuing to damage tissue beneath the surface, and it remains worth doing even up to three hours afterwards.

Safety

What you'll need

• Cool running water
• Cling film (optional)
• Clean non-fluffy cloth (optional)

Step by step

1. Stop the burning and remove the heat source.Move away from it. For a scald, remove clothing or jewellery near the area quickly — but never anything stuck to the skin.
2. Cool under cool running water for at least twenty minutes.This is the single most important step and it is the one people cut short. Twenty minutes, not two, and it still helps up to three hours after the burn.
3. Use cool water, never ice.Ice, ice water and freezer packs cause further tissue damage by constricting blood flow. Cool running water is what is recommended.
4. Remove jewellery and tight items near the burn early.Burns swell. A ring or watch that is easy to remove now may not be in ten minutes.
5. Keep the rest of the person warm.Prolonged cooling of a larger area can drop body temperature, particularly in children. Cool the burn, cover the person.
6. Cover loosely with cling film or a clean non-fluffy cloth.Laid over rather than wrapped around, so it does not constrict if the area swells. It protects the surface and reduces pain considerably.
7. Do not apply butter, oil, creams, toothpaste or anything else.They trap heat, introduce infection risk, and make the burn harder to assess. This is a genuinely harmful piece of folk advice.
8. Do not burst blisters.The blister is a sterile dressing. Bursting it introduces infection. If a blister is large or in an awkward place, get it looked at.

Tips

• Take paracetamol or ibuprofen if needed and appropriate for you. Burns hurt considerably more than their size suggests.
• Watch for infection over the following days — increasing pain, redness spreading, swelling, pus or fever all mean get it seen.
• Sunburn is a burn. Cool it, keep out of the sun, drink fluids, and seek help if there is blistering over a large area or the person feels unwell.

Common mistakes

• Using ice or very cold water — It constricts blood flow and causes additional tissue damage. Cool running water is what is recommended.
• Cooling for only a minute or two — Heat continues damaging tissue below the surface. Twenty minutes is the figure, and cutting it short is the most common error.
• Putting butter, cream or toothpaste on a burn — They trap heat, raise the infection risk and make the burn harder for anyone to assess afterwards.

Questions people ask