Wound care ointment burn type effect

It can instantly relieve the pain of burn wounds, block the invasion of external pathogenic microorganisms, and create a suitable moist healing environment. It can also help reduce the probability of scars and pigmentation under the premise of standardized use.

Last week, when I was helping in the dressing room of a community hospital, I met a little girl who had just entered college. She didn't hold the hot water bottle firmly, and half the pot of boiling water was poured on her left wrist, causing blisters the size of two quail eggs. I smeared a thick layer of toothpaste at home, and she squatted in the corridor and shed tears in pain. After the doctor cleaned off the toothpaste and opened the blisters to drain them, he only applied a thin layer of burn-type care ointment and asked her not to wrap it too thickly. Less than ten minutes later, she wiped away her tears and said, "It doesn't seem to be that painful anymore."

Don't underestimate this thin layer of ointment. The nerve endings of the newly burned wound are completely exposed. Not to mention touching, even a gust of wind will make you shiver in pain. The mild base of the ointment is equivalent to covering the exposed nerves with a soft quilt, directly isolating external stimulation. The industry has actually been arguing for many years about whether to add analgesic ingredients to burn ointments: one group believes that the first priority after a burn is debridement and prevention of infection. Adding additional analgesic ingredients may increase the probability of wound allergy, which is unnecessary. ； The other group believes that, especially for groups with poor pain tolerance, such as the elderly and children, early and rapid pain relief can reduce the stress response and prevent patients from breaking the new epithelial tissue due to pain, and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. At present, most of the mainstream regular products take the middle road, adding soothing ingredients that are mild and non-irritating to the wound, and basically do not bring additional burden to the wound.

In addition to relieving pain, the more important function of this layer of ointment is to build a safe protective barrier for the wound. It is different from ordinary sealed band-aids. It is a semi-permeable dressing, which is equivalent to wearing a breathable mask on the wound - dust and bacteria from outside cannot escape, and the tissue fluid exuded from the wound can be slowly drained out, so that it will not get stuffy inside and rot. To be honest, I still can't figure out why so many people like to apply toothpaste and soy sauce to burns. Not only is it useless, but it can also easily stick to the wound and increase the risk of infection. When going to the hospital to debridement, the doctor has to dig at it for a long time, and the patients themselves suffer.

At this point, someone may ask, can’t I just leave the wound to dry and scab? I helped my best friend in the burn department sort out patient follow-up data for half a year. Patients who also suffered from shallow second-degree burns and insisted on using regular burn care ointment for wet healing healed 3-4 days faster on average than those who left the scabs to dry, and the probability of leaving dark pigmentation was more than half. A dry and scabbed environment can easily cause new skin tissue to tear along with the scab, which can easily leave scars. The moist environment maintained by the ointment can allow epithelial cells to crawl faster and reduce secondary damage.

Of course, don’t deify this ointment, it is not a “miraculous scar remover”. If it is a severe second- or third-degree burn, you should go to the hospital for treatment. Skin grafting and special anti-scar products should be used in the later stage. The function of burn care ointment is to minimize the inflammatory reaction during the healing period and provide a stable environment for skin repair. It can reduce the probability of scar hyperplasia, but it cannot leave 100% scars. I met an uncle last time. He bought an antibacterial ointment with the brand name "Xiaozhi" in a drugstore that claimed to "treat burns without leaving scars." After applying it for three days, the wound turned into suppuration. When he came to the hospital, the entire back of his hand was swollen and translucent. When buying such products, be sure to look for medical device products with the correct brand name, and don't buy unregistered "folk miracle medicines."

By the way, one last thing to add, no matter how useful the burn care ointment you have at home is, the first time you get a burn is to rinse it with running cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Once it is rinsed, apply the ointment or go to the hospital. Don’t reverse the order.