Caring for a minor burn or scald
How to look after your burn at home, and what to watch for.
You have a minor burn or scald. With good care, most heal well over the next week or two. Here is how to look after it, and what to watch for. Please read this and keep it handy.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
These need an ambulance.
- Trouble breathing, a hoarse voice, or coughing up soot
- You feel confused or dizzy, your heart is racing, or you are breathing fast
- You feel cold, clammy and very unwell
- A large new burn, or a burn that goes all the way around a limb
Come back to the ED, the burns service, or the dressing clinic named above.
- Increasing pain, redness, swelling or pus around the burn
- A bad smell coming from the wound
- You feel feverish or shivery
- The burn looks deeper or larger than when it was assessed
- The skin looks white, brown or leathery, or has become numb
- The dressing soaks through with fluid, or slips off
- The burn has not healed as expected by the review date you were given
The burn you were assessed today was judged suitable for treatment at home with dressings. The advice above is about changes from how it looked when you left — a burn that is healing normally will slowly become less painful and less red. Burns to the face, hands, feet, genitals or across a joint, and any chemical or electrical burn, are followed up through a specific local route; if this applies to you it will be written in Your care details above. Keep the dressing clean and dry, do not burst blisters, and protect the healed skin from the sun for at least a year.
Caring for the burn
- Keep the dressing clean and dry, and change it only as advised.
- Do not burst any blisters - they protect the skin underneath.
- Raise the area when you can, to bring down swelling.
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain if you can take them.
- Do not put creams, butter, toothpaste or ice on it.
If a burn happens again - first aid
- Cool the burn under cool running water for 20 minutes.
- Take off jewellery or clothing near the burn, unless it is stuck.
- Cover it loosely with cling film or a clean, non-fluffy cloth.
- Keep the person warm, but not over the burn.
- A burn from chemicals or electricity, or one that is large or deep, needs A&E - call 999.
Looking after the scar
As the new skin heals, it can burn easily in the sun. Protect it from the sun for about a year - cover it up, or use a high-factor sunblock once the skin has fully closed. This helps the scar fade and stops it darkening.