Treating minor household burns with ice is not recommended by medical professionals.The other day I accidentally picked up a very hot pan and burned my fingers. I immediately did what I always do when I get a minor burn: apply something cold, usually an ice cube wrapped in a towel, for several minutes. But an internet search this morning told me that ice is not recommended, as it can also cause frostbite.
How do you handle a kitchen burn?
It's important to first acknowledge that we're discussing minor burns here (first degree and some second degree) and that any severe burn should be treated by a medical professional. For a description of burns and how to treat them, see this page from the Mayo Clinic.
Back to my ice cube. While I haven't experienced any difficulty with ice cubes, I will bow to modern medical wisdom and not recommend their use. I do know that the sooner I apply something cold, be it running the burned area under cool running water or pressing something cool from the refrigerator up against it, the better. I find that if I do this as quickly as possible and for as long as possible, the burn doesn't bother me as much.
Some first aid websites suggest applying an ointment and wrapping the burned area in gauze, and others do not. Old-timey remedies like smearing the burn with butter or egg whites and (ahem) pressing with ice are not recommended.
How do you treat minor burns that happens in the kitchen?
Related: Kitchen Accidents: What Lessons Have your Learned?
(Image: Dana Velden)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
My Staple Summer Cocktail Recipe: Campari & IPA Spritzer
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Martha Concrete Lam...
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
Ha, this happened to me yesterday. I usually run my finger (or wherever I got burned) under running, room temperature tap water. If it's still bothering me after that, I will put vaseline on it, which seems to do the trick.
I run my hand under cold tap water until it feels slightly better or I press on it with my hand, like you would press on your skin after you've waxed it, eg the pressure feels "good".
agreed, run my hand under cold tap water.
cold tap water
Cold water, plus neosporin if it's a worse burn. I burned myself pretty bad this weekend, and I intermittently held an ice pack wrapped in a towel over the burn to help numb the pain a bit. That didn't seem to cause any problems, and it hardly hurt at all the next day.
good old French's mustard! Just slather a thick layer of mustard and let it dry. I think it has something to do with turmeric. Works like a charm!
Cold tap water until my hand goes numb (I'm a wuss with burns). I had a bad (second-degree) hot glue burn not too long ago, and after a day of no bandage, I finally used some antibiotic cream and wrapped it with gauze.
An interesting approach is to press the burn gently with a free hand or other body part. This cools the burn down slowly to the natural body temperature and is supposed to prevent blistering or shock from cold water/ice/et.
my boyfriend recently picked up a hot (450 degree) skillet with his bare hand. picked it up off the counter (and then dropped it - fast). it was a nightmare. he spent about nine hours straight with his hand in a bowl of ice water, because it hurt so badly anytime he lifted it out. then, suddenly, it stopped hurting. strangest thing. he spent a few more days with the fingers wrapped in neosporin & gauze, and it's blistering now, but seems to have no permanent damage. it was not something i'd soon repeat, but if it happened again - straight to the ice water.
Immediately run it under cold water until you can feel the throbbing start to go down a little.
Cold tap water immediately. Ice water as soon as I can get a bowl and the ice cube tray out one-handed. Aloe vera gel.
It looks like what you usually do - an ice cube *wrapped in a towel* should be fine. The Mayo Clinic doesn't recommend putting ice DIRECTLY on the wound, but does recommend a cold compress (which, in all honesty, can be as simple as an ice cube wrapped in a towel).
So as long as you're not touching ice to bare skin, it's okay.
Aloe either from my much abused plant or from the tube in the cupboard. But it cools the burn down and I usually don't scar.
I picked up a heated handle of a pot a few weeks ago. I put my hand under running, cool water. A little while later I held an ice pack for a few minutes at a time, but not too long because it was too cold. I didn't think it was bad enough to do any different treatment.
This is why my aloe plant lives in the kitchen.
Cool water until it feels better, (I don't run the tap - a bowl works fine and doesn't waste water) then a dollop of aloe. I keep the aloe "spear" in the fridge after that so it's nice and cool and reapply if I think of it/ am bothered. Some ibuprofen or whatever anti-achy thing I have helps too.
After running under cold water to stop the burning, I apply oragel (a salve for babies cutting teeth...) to numb it.
Cover it in liquid soap and let it dry. Not sure why it works but it does an doesn't leave a scar!
I also recommend mustard. A friend at work first told me about it. Takes the burn away quickly and seems to heal quicker than anything else I have tried.
after running it under room temp water for a bit, dip it in vinegar, or fill a latex glove with a little vinegar and let it soak. burn gel works wonders, but i havent seen it for sale outside of commercial kitchen first aid kits.
Worst kitchen burn I ever got I stuck my hand in box of old ice cream and kept it there until the ice cream melted. For hours when I took hand out, it would be ouchy ouchy! After the ice cream turned to mush, the hand was all better and never blistered.
I can't believe nobody has yet recommended honey! Natural honey has antibiotic and pain killing properties. I put some honey on a burn right after I get it, and rinse it off after about 20 minutes, and it's like nothing ever happened!
I take a cutting from my aloe vera and apply the leaf directly on the burn. I try to do this several times during the course of the day/evening. The next day the mark is there but the pain is completely gone.
Toothpaste! Not the gel kind or anything fancy...just the most basic paste. I leave it on for a little while, and it always gives me relief.
I actually take a stem of aloe plant and cut it into little nuggets, and keep them in my freezer. Instant aloe ice cube that melts slows over the burn.
I hit the top of my hand on an oven rack, and my mom told me to put the cut side of a raw potato on the burn. No idea what about it works, but it totally did!
Cool running water. I learned that trick from an assistant manager back when I worked at a restaurant during high school; works like a charm, every time.
Cool running water. Put some aloe vera on it (preferably from the plant) and place some in the freezer. Use the cold if it gets worse
Bizarrely enough, my mom always would put cornstarch on burns. It must be a similar chemical reaction that the raw potato has.
Karen over at The Art of Doing Stuff says to pour bleach on it. Haven't tried it, but I'll give it a shot the next time I burn myself.
To all the suggestions for putting stuff on burns (butter, starch, bleach (no way!) ) I'd personally avoid smearing anything into what could/will become an open wound that's not medical (i.e.- Neosporin, Peroxide, etc) I always use cool tap water for a second but once you burn yourself, the damage is already done.
I've gotten kitchen burns ranging from 1st to 3rd degree (you never want to witness your skin turn dark grey!) and oddly, the less severe the burn, the more it hurts. A third degree burn hurts much less prob due to possible nerve damage I'd guess.
I've never met anyone else who knew this home remedy, but my mom taught me to put Crest original toothpaste on a burn. Hurts like none other for about 5 minutes, and then the pain is over. The burn dries up/scabs and heals the next day.
I immediately run it under cold water or apply an ice cube too. I also keep a bottle of pure aloe vera juice in my fridge. I use it occasionally for other things, but mostly it's handy and cool for applying to minor burns. Lavender essential oil is also helpful for burns, but I typically use this (or burn salve) later if it's still bothering me.
I usually pinch an earlobe with the burnt fingers. It does the trick, it takes the heat away.
cold water, followed by lavender essential oil, undiluted--prevents blistering.
yes to immersion in ice water, but no to direct application of ice.
Don't know where I saw this, but I make a baking soda paste and apply it to the burn. I picked up very hot metal tongs once and slathered on the baking soda paste. Worked wonders.
Toothpaste. Any kind - paste or gel. The mintiness provides instant relief.
Cold tap water followed by Burn Jel. It has tea tree oil and lidocaine, and it's what labs use when someone gets burned on a hot plate.
I learned by accident in culinary school that room temperature to slightly warmer water seems to prevent blistering. Now when I burn myself, I run it under water just under my body temp, which doesn't soothe it as much as cold of course, but I don't have to deal with worrying about tearing open a blister while it heals.
Unsalted dairy. I find sour cream works best.
i do nothing and ignore it. dinner's not gonna finish itself!
Honey. I was canning some apple butter and some of the boiling water splashed on the top of my hand. After putting my hand under cold running water for a min, I spread just a tiny bit of raw honey over the area, and kept it on for the remainder of the evening. A couple hours later, I washed it off and no pain, no scar.
My neighbour swears by 'Cotton Ash Paste'
COTTON-ASH PASTE
1. Take a large piece of cotton wool (or any kind of pure, white cotton fabric) and burn it (perhaps in a metal pot).
2. Use the ash of the burned cotton and mix with
3. olive oil (or any kind of cooking oil available at home),
4. to get a thick paste.
5. Spread this black paste on the burned skin.
6. Cover it with a cling film.
When I was a medical responder we had these gauze pads that came in a sealed package called burn pads. They were soaked in a gel that contained tea tree oil which is a natural anti-septic. They feel so god on minor burns and really takes the sting away.
I use a tomato! Run cool water over the burn, then hold a tomato slice or half a tomato over the burned area. The acid helps neutralize the burning sensation and prevents blistering. I learned that trick in a restaurant I worked at, and it works for me! I usually apply lavender essential oil afterward as well, since that keeps the burn from scarring.
IF the skin is not broken, then I just run my hand under cool - not cold - water. At that point, Neosporin is fine. I would not put anything at all on broken or blistered skin.
A 1st degree burn only affects the very top layer of skin. These hurt quite a bit because of the nerve endings.
A 2nd degree burn will hurt a LOT because the top layer is completely removed, exposing all the nerve endings. The skin will be bright pink or reddened, and will blanch if you press a finger to it.
A 3rd degree burn won't hurt at all, because it goes below the layer of the nerves. However, that is serious stuff. It will be whitish in the middle (probably pink around the edges, because burns are rarely all 3rd or all 2nd degree) and won't blanch. You will also be able to pull hair at the site right out, because the burn has gone below the level of the follicle.
If you suspect 2nd or 3rd degree, you need to see a doctor, ESPECIALLY if it's any more than a fingertip or small spot.
Cool running water, then yellow mustard. I don't know why yellow mustard works, it just does. It may just be a matter of being cool from the refrigerator and being something I can slather on thickly that doesn't run and doesn't contain fats. Makes it feel better, and I don't get scars. I've searched for some kind of scientific backing to this, but haven't found any. On the other hand, I also haven't found warnings not to use it.
Plus yet another one for the cold running tap water. The two times I've given myself a good burn in the kitchen (touch wood, only two!), once with hot caramel and once from picking up a cast iron pan that had been in the oven, I kept the burn under the cold tap for like 10 or so minutes. Then I gently dried the area, and wrapped a band-aid around the blister really tight. Both didn't hurt after the initial blast, and neither scared, which really surprised me considering the burn from the caramel left a valley-shaped divot in the finger the syrup dribbled over. I don't think I used ointment in either case....
Wise Amanda Mac!
If the runnig water is not enough, look for a pro (nurse or doctor). "I heard about" followed by "I use/tried it" when we are talking about possible 'open doors' seems much like self-medicating atitude.
Anyway, I hope that the worst that may happen will only be a bad blister and that goes away too.
I am ridiculously clumsy which leads me to being burnt far too often. After one particularly bad burn involving boiling water, my husband brought home these burn band-aids: http://bit.ly/pi94Ho. They are miraculous. I don't know if there is anything like them in the States, but I'd highly recommend them if there are.
Cool water first, then keep covered until it heals.
I also use mustard. I think it's the vinegar that helps to take the sting out, and it's easier to use than vinegar because it stays on your skin.
My mom always put cold tomato paste on it. Seems to work. Cold water also works
may i just say do not pour bleach on it? unless you want to compound your temperature burn with a chemical one.
cool running water initially, and then a cold compress as needed.
In addition to running cool water over the burn immediately, I also wash the affected area with mild soap. It's too easy to get an infection. Then if it still hurts, a little aloe usually helps.
Apply honey to the burn, leave it on for about 5 minute rinse off. It is truly magic!
Cold water for a long time, then make an infusion with plantain leaves from outside, wrap it up. Amazingly effective! The cold stops the burn and the plantain takes care of the pain.
This is the plantain I am talking about: http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail279.php
Apply Neosporin thickly and right away! I had a VERY bad burn on the top of my hand (hit the top of a 450 degree oven with the top of my hand while trying to fish bread off of a stone) this not only made it stop hurting right away, but there is virtually NO scar even though it was quite a deep burn.
definitely the cold running water. however, i burned my elbow on a fondue pot in paris and i found that pressing my baby bottle (yeah... http://instagr.am/p/PX9rz/) of chilled white wine against it for a few minutes kept it from looking too ugly the next day. basically anything that's cold but not ice-cold.
I don't remember where I found this remedy but it has worked for me anytime I burn my fingers touching a hot pan handle. Just stick your hand or finger as deep as you can into the flour container and keep turning it around inside. Do this for about 5 mins and when you take it out the pain will be gone and you won't have any blisters. It works!!!
Now, unfortunately this doesn't work when one burns oneself by bumping your arm into the hot upper edge of the oven when you are turning the pan inside or reaching to the back to pull it out. Does anybody know of some kind of material that can be attached to the edge of the oven to keep it cool?