[kdlynn (OP)]

today i burnt my hand in my mom's oven.. don't ask. it was stinging like crazy no matter how much cold stuff i put on it... or burn relief gel. when i got home i wanted to take a bath. at first the hot bath water hurt the burn, but in a few seconds the pain went completely away... hasn't hurt or stung yet, and my bath was two hours ago. is hot water supposed to help, or did it maybe just kill some germs that were on the burn?

[paul.fr]

how long were you in the bath?

[another_someone]

No, the burning is unlikely to be because of bacteria, but because of damage to the skin.  It depends how damaged the skin is, but if you damage the skin even further, it can kill the nerve endings themselves, so you do not feel the pain any longer, but this is not a good thing, as it still leaves a high risk of infection (gangrene) if the skin is that badly damaged.

But then, it may be just that the relaxation, and nothing to do with the hot water, has helped you manage the pain.

The only way anybody can know is by having a look at how bad a state the skin around there is.

[rosy]

Keeping a burn moist will stop it hurting, I think it's to do with the skin being more flexible and not contracting as it dries out etc, but that's not from any sort of studied viewpoint beyond looking at burns I've given myself.
If I have a painful burn I sometimes put teething gel on it, on the grounds that it's antiseptic and pain relieving and not greasy in the way an antiseptic cream would be (apparently that's bad, not sure why) or drying in the way antiseptic solutions often are. I have no idea whether it's a good idea in terms of the healing process, but it works for me...

[kdlynn (OP)]

i was in the bath for maybe twenty minutes? i didn't really keep track. i can still see a big red mark on my hand and one little blister, but it still doesn't hurt again.

[Alandriel]

Did you by any chance have anything contain lavender essential oil in your bath (soap, shampoo etc.)?

Lavender does have rather astonishing healing properties on burns.
Other than that I can't think of anything that would explain. Fairly warm / hot water would rather aggrevate a burn as far as I know.

[kdlynn (OP)]

thats what i thought, too! but it didn't. i just checked the labels. no lavendar. which is good, because the scent of lavendar makes me gag...

[paul.fr]

I think I mentioned in a previous topic, that you are meant to run cold water (or fluid) on to the burn for at least 10 minuites(minor burn). This draws the heat out.

Rosy, from memory, so take it with a pinch of salt, I think applying creams to burns is like adding oil to a fire. Plus, should you require hospital treatment, anything you have applied will need to be scraped off.

[elegantlywasted]

I work in the kitchen alot so I'm always cutting or burning my hands on something. If I burn my hand I instantly run it under cold water for as long as I can handle, then take a slice of tomato and hold it on the burn for 15 or 20 minutes. I was told once that the acids in the tomatos help draw the heat out, while at the same time something in it helps to moisturize the skin.

I'm not sure if there is any scientic proof to this (probably not) but it seems to work for me.

[iko]

today i burnt my hand in my mom's oven.. don't ask. it was stinging like crazy no matter how much cold stuff i put on it... or burn relief gel. when i got home i wanted to take a bath. at first the hot bath water hurt the burn, but in a few seconds the pain went completely away... hasn't hurt or stung yet, and my bath was two hours ago. is hot water supposed to help, or did it maybe just kill some germs that were on the burn?

Maybe the moist and the heat made the burn relief gel penetrate the skin better and do its job.
Maybe the pain had to go away after a while.
Maybe.

ikothesis  []

[kdlynn (OP)]

thank you meg and iko.