Pharmacist

Back Menu
Take This Know This What If Comments

 

 


Let's see what to use over the counter to help with this burn.
Pharmacist

The burns you can do self-care for are first degree burns and second degree burns not larger than 3 inches in diameter. Anything outside this, your child must seek urgent medical care.

Hope you ran cool water over the burn area to help reduce the swelling.

Measures available over the counter to help with minor burns include:

  • taking care of the pain
     
  • preventing any infection and
     
  • dressing the area if need be.

With this in mind, see what is recommended to help with this burn below.

Mother washing child hand after a burn incident


Initially

---  Remove any rings, bracelets, watches from the affected area in case any swelling occur.

---  Clean the area with soap and water  to remove debris.

---  Do not burst the blisters if any and do not apply antiseptics like povidone/iodine or betadine.

---  Need to keep the area moist. So apply cocoa butter, vaseline to the area.

---  If no blistering, leave it open.
 

---  If some blisters, you will have to get a dressing like DuoDerm®, TegaDerm®; or Xerofoam®.

 

Relieving pain

NSAIDs

Give ibuprofen or naproxen to help with the pain and minimize possible swelling that will take place.

Lidocaine

Ask for 4% lidocaine at the pharmacy counter and apply to the affected area. This should provide pain relief that will last long. If the pharmacy is closed, over-the-counter Lanacaine should help for now. These have a potential for skin sensitivities. So watch for that.

Aloe vera

Apply this to soothe the area if you can't find lidocaine or your child's skin is sensitive to lidocaine. Look for pure aloe vera leaf if you can find one. Know that 100% pure Aloe vera doesn't mean it is only aloe vera in the bottle. This means they used aloe vera plant and not processed aloe vera. Other things are added to the mixture.

 

Preventing infection

Bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment would be good for this. Apply this to the affected area.

 

Worth doing

  • Use sunscreen on the affected area to prevent discoloration for a few months.
     
  • If this is a burned foot, let the child use it to walk. If not, the foot will swell.
    No clutches or walker. Better to hurt now than later when it is swollen.
     
  • Medical grade honey such as medihoney® is a good idea.
    To be considered potent to heal burns, look for a minimum rating of 10 UMF (unique manuka factor).

 

Last updated by pharmacist on : 02/17/2016

 

 

Know this about the safe and effective use of this recommendation.
Article photo

Our disclaimer

  • Recommendation is the opinion of a registered US Pharmacist currently practicing as a community pharmacist.
  • Recommendation is not an attempt to discuss all possible self care or treatment approach to this health challenge.
  • The responsibility of the recommending pharmacist is limited to this question:
    "If a patient presents with these symptoms, what will you recommend and why?"
    It is not an attempt to publish an article on the treatment of any condition. Just what would you tell a patient who present with so and so in the usual course of your practice.
  • The pharmacist image presented in this article may or may not be the actual image of the authoring pharmacist.
    Because we insist on using articles written by currently practicing community pharmacists, these pharmacists may choose to remain anonymous especially if they are employed by an employer to avoid being pressured to recommend a particular product to drive sales.
  • Please read the policies and terms of use for self-care OTC, selfcarepharmacist.com and it's affiliates by clicking on the button below.

 

 

 

 

What if your child is currently experiencing the condition listed below?

Or if you have a question for the pharmacist?
Pharmacist


You have a question

Please contact the pharmacist. He or she will gladly answer your questions.

Contacting the pharmacist

You may have to unlock the contact form using social networking tools (facebook, twitter, google+, linkedIn) we have made available to you.

If you can't do this, you will have to wait a few seconds depending on the number of users at the time.

Contact Pharmacist


What to expect

Expect a reply as soon as possible.
If the authoring pharmacist cannot reply within 24 hours, the system will push your email to the rest of the team. Any available pharmacist will answer your question as soon as possible.

If you have a comment and not a question, please post it in the comments section for all to read.

What can't be done:

No replies to vulgar, disrespectful emails.
The system is programmed to look for certain words that are disrespectful and will automatically delete such emails. They don't get to the pharmacist. This will blacklist your email address automatically.

Email addresses or questions are not saved.
They are deleted once answered and not stored in a database. Should you need to follow up, copy the previous question(s) along with the new message for quick reference.

The pharmacist does not reply to emails that are not relevant to the topic he or she authored. They are forwarded to the author of the topic and are under no obligation to reply.

We encourage pharmacists to respond to questions but are under no obligations to answer questions.

 

 

 

 

 

No comments or ratings on this recommendation yet. How about being the first to say something?
Pharmacist

 

Leave a comment Why?


  • Let others know if the recommendation worked for your child.
  • Share the treatment outcome with others.
  • Add to the recommendation.
  • Improve on the recommendation.
  • Quickest way to ask a pharmacist a question.
  • What about answering a few questions?