Infected burn

[Barmaid]

I gave myself a nasty burn the other night - it's about the size of my little finger. It blistered and I dressed it. I have just taken the dressing off. The dressing is green and my arm looks like I have a hole in it.

Now, bearing in mind I cannot bear to touch it a) the pain and b) the nausea, would it be ok to spray it with spray on Savlon and re-dress it? It's difficult to leave the dressing off because I keep catching it.

[tenrec]

Go straight to the GP.

[Psybbo]

Please get it treated in your local medical centre.

[mazie]

go to the doctor Barmaid

[ubasses]

No. Go to pharmacist and get pouch of saline to clean it then a special burns dressing, for night and showering. Leave it uncovered as much as possible, not even a sleeve over it.

Advice received from pharmacist when I badly burnt my arm.

[rowanwitch]

Nooooo this is one for your pharmacist but a silver impregnated burn dressing would be a start..then do not use savlon keep it covered Take painkillers about half an hour before changing the dressing after a while I don't know if you can buy flamazine cream over the counter but that is still pretty much the best thing for burns

[Barmaid]

I hadn't thought of the pharmacist. I'll do that. I can't bear the thought of the walk in centre. And for this type of injury I'll get an appointment with the gp next september.

[Sqad]

Barmaid.........don't need to bother the GP. the advice of rowan/ubasses.

HOWEVER.....do watch for any spreading redness and particularly a red line spreading up towards your elbow.

It should settle.

[Sqad]

oops" should have read...."take the advice of rowan/ubasses."

[rowanwitch]

And if it starts to smell fishy you will need to go to the GP

[housewife47]

Could you ring Gp surgery and get advice from practice nurse? They deal with small injuries etc I wouldnt spray it you probably need something called Flamazine?

[Smowball]

I thik if you used spray on Savlon on it then you would leap about ten foot with the stinging! Go to local pharmacist.

[Barmaid]

I am going to the pharmacy as soon as it stops raining. The heavens have just opened here though. It doesn't look quite so bad now I've had the dressing off for a couple of hours and it has started to dry up a bit (as ubasses said).

Thanks chaps.

[Smowball]

A few months ago I was using my MIL's oven , which is chest height, and I wasnt used to it. As I took a hot baking tray out it slipped towards me and the corner hit my chest. As it fell to floor it also took the skin with it. It was very similar to yours but much smaller. Took a while to heal, tought it was going to scar but it didnt.

[Sqad]

I am a little unsettled because of a couple of comments that you have made:

1)\\ it's about the size of my little finger\\.
Do you mean it is long, thin and the length of your little finger?

2) \\my arm looks like I have a hole in it. \\\

Do you mean that you can see muscle at the bottom of the hole?

[Barmaid]

lol, yes sorry sqad - I mean it is the size in the sense it is long and thin, it is not swollen at all - it does have a very slight red mark round it which is slightly warm to the touch but not hot (this is how I decided it might have a minor infection).

No, I can't see muscle, hell, I wouldn't be typing if I could - I'd have passed out hours ago. It is just a hole in the layer of skin (if it is skin - I certainly have no top layer there!) The hole is tiny - about 1/6th of my finger nail and doesn't seem too deep at all. It's almost as if that was the worst bit of the burn which has gone slightly deeper than the rest of it.

[Sqad]

Ok...OK..just for a moment I thought that my excellent advice had fallen short of my undoubted diagnostic expertise...........how stupid of me to think that that could be the case.....;-)

My initial post and advice....remains.

[Barmaid]

lol - thank you all of you for your advice. And thank you Sqad for making me laugh to boot!

When it stops raining I am off to the pharmacy.