Family• Health

How I Treat A Minor Burn

Last week I was making some dutch oven artisan bread in my kitchen oven. When the bread was finished I took the dutch oven out of the oven and set it on the stove top to cool down. If you know anything about cast Iron, it is that it holds heat REALLY WELL! So even though the Bread had been out of the oven for a few minutes, I know the cast Iron oven was still pretty darn near its orignal 450 degree temperature when I took it out.

So as I was preparing the bread and putting it on a cutting board my nine year old daughter was standing next to me. I didn’t realize how close she was standing to the dutch oven. When I moved my arms, I bumped her and her elbow touched the cast iron oven. It only took a few seconds to figure out what had happened since she fell to the ground screaming in pain and pointed to the oven.

I knew it was going to be a serious burn at that temperature, so I ran to my Aloe Vera Plant and grabbed a large piece and had her put it directly on the burn. It hurt so bad she had a hard time holding it there, but at the same time she said it helped with some of the pain. I let her know that she couldn’t but ice on it because Ice will give the skin too much of a contrast in skin temperatures and it will actually pull the layers of the skin apart and make it blister. You can but room temperature water on it but it being on her elbow and a rather large burn spot I would say its not very practical to try and put your elbow in some running water or a cup of water.

So I had her just leave the gooey leaves on her elbow, Occasionally switching out the old leave with a new cooler leaf. I think she sat on the couch and cried in pain for close to an hour but after that she said the pain started to go away. By about three hours later she was completely able to go to bed. She took some of the plant with her in case it started to hurt during the night but it wasn’t needed.

By the next morning her burn had started to scab and she said it was completely painless. Now the only complaint she has is because its a scab when she bends her elbow the scab cracks at the bend point and causes some discomfort, but the actual burn has not bothered her since the first night.

I am super thankful that we keep Aloe Vera Plant in our house. Not only is it not deluded or anything added to it like in a store but I never run out or have to dig around trying to find it. My plant sits in my house by the window and it only needs water about once a month and it is super happy and healthy. In fact, I just transplanted a piece into another pot so I could have some more. I hope this can help, or prepare you and your family the next time your child has a minor burn. And if you were unaware, burns are the number one injury for children under the age of five!