Broadband Tech > General Questions > What degree burn is this?

What degree burn is this?

Go to the doctor!

This is not me. Its a person that doesnt have health insurance and doesnt want to go to the doctor.

Immediately after getting burned, the person obtained Silver Sulfadiazine cream which is a prescription-only cream for 2nd and 3rd degree burns (obtained through other means) and has been applying it daily etc.

I did not understand why giving your opinion might lock this thread...?
--
B.S. in Mathematics, M.S. in Mathematics (last semester)
Applied to 15 Math PhDs, so far accepted at: University of Missouri-Columbia, FSU, and SUNY Binghamton. Waiting for 12 others!

reply to Moropo
I am not a doctor.

It looks like mostly a second degree burn, with the blacker areas possibly being third degree burns if there wasn't any preexisting marks/discolorations there.

If there were no prior marks or discoloration they really need to get to a doctor as there is damage to the tissues below the skin and a topical cream may not handle it. Better to get it checked now and possibly spend a hundred bucks than for it to get infected and be looking at a hundred grand plus in hospital bills.

I am not a doctor.

reply to Moropo

Re: What degree burn is this?

reply to Moropo
I t has been a roughly two decades since my last first aid course but as I remember second degree burns have blistered skin and third degree burn may have blackened areas.

That looks bad and he can go to the emergency room of the nearest public hospital and get treatment and a correct diagnosis.

reply to Xioden
This. If it is a deep burn, the dead tissue will need to be debrided, which won't happen with an antibacterial cream.

I am also not a doctor, nor do I play one on the innertubes (I have had a deep wound with necrotized tissue, though).

reply to Moropo
the longer this person avoids having this checked by qualified medical professionals the more it will likely cost them in the long run.

reply to Moropo
Agreed. Only a doctor can tell if the blackened part is third degree, but even if it isn't yet, it has the potential to become third degree. This burn needs more medical attention than it is getting. Leaving a potentially third degree burn treated only with antibacterial cream is dangerous.

"It is often difficult to accurately determine the depth of a burn. This is especially so in the case of second degree burns, which can continue to evolve over time. As such, a second-degree partial-thickness burn can progress to a third-degree burn over time even after initial treatment. Distinguishing between the superficial-thickness burn and the partial-thickness burn is important, as the former may heal spontaneously, whereas the latter often requires surgical excision and skin grafting."
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn#By_depth

reply to Moropo
That needs medical attention. Once the dead tissue starts sloughing off, it's gonna get really nasty...

Antibacterial cream applications just ain't gonna cut it. Infections from dead tissue can kill you if left improperly treated.

If he still refuses to see a Dr, tell your friend I said "Good-Bye".
--
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reply to Moropo
I always say if its not better after a week, see a doctor. But if it were this, I'd see a doctor right away. This looks like a case of "Pay a little now or a lot later"
--
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
-Jimi Hendrix

reply to Moropo
Common sense failure here.

Go see a doctor or as you claim your "friend" should see a doctor ASAP.
--
"We're your friends. We're not like the others, man, really."

reply to Moropo
tell him to take a sterile wire brush to it every three days and then cover with the silver bla-bla-bla cream and a loose gauze wrap.

(the dead skin needs to be removed and the area cleaned - then bandaged like stated above with the cream and gauze. this needs to be repeated until it becomes healthy healing tissue)

-- i am not a doctor, but know some and also from personal experience this is what needs to happen.... preferably in a health-care setting.

reply to Moropo
is there edema (swelling)?

reply to Moropo
It is really very much, seems like there must be lots of pain as well. Please visit to doctor as soon as possible.

reply to Moropo

thats a better picture than the first. from this picture it's much easier to tell that it is just second degree burns. should have posted on like this from the beginning!

that's going to leave one hell of a scar.