Kitchen burns happen to the best home chefs. It could be boiling water, steam, a hot surface, or a splash of hot oil that ruins your next big dinner. What you don’t know about kitchen burns and how to treat them may hurt you.
Determining the Severity of Kitchen Burns
- First-degree burns: cause only sunburn-like redness and mild swelling to the outermost layer of the skin
- Second-degree burns: cause blisters, more intense pain and significant swelling to deeper layers of the skin
- Third-degree burns: affect the full thickness of the skin, leaving a white, charred, or leather-like appearance to the skin. If you or a loved one have third-degree burns, seek immediate medical attention.
Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and injuries in the United States. In 2021, there were an estimated 170,000 home cooking fires, resulting in 135 deaths, 3,000 injuries, and over $494 million in property loss
Treating Kitchen Burns
- Remove the source of the burn and any clothing or jewelry near the burn.
- Run cool or lukewarm water over the burn for 20–30 minutes, or until the pain subsides. Do NOT use ice, ice water, or greasy substances, like butter.
- Cover the burn with a clean, non-stick bandage. You can also apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly or aloe vera.
- Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help with pain and inflammation.
- Watch for signs of infection like increased pain, redness, heat, or discharge. If you see these signs, you should see a doctor.
An estimated 486,000 burn injuries occur per year—or about one every 65 seconds
How to Prevent Kitchen Burns
Start by turning down the temperature of your water heater to 120° F or lower. In the kitchen to turn pot handles away from the stove’s edge while cooking, use dry oven mitts or potholders, and keep children and pets at least three feet away from the area where hot food and beverages are prepared.
If a cooking fire should spark, having a fire extinguisher or fire blanket within reach can help you quickly contain it.
When to Go to an Urgent Care
If you have concerns about any burn, no matter how small, see an urgent care provider like Heavens Urgent Care. Our experienced providers will evaluate and treat most minor and moderate kitchen burns. Many people choose an urgent care to get the same treatment for non-life-threatening burns as they would in an emergency room, without the long wait.
If you have any questions about the severity, location or treatment of a burn, seek medical care. Children with burns should be evaluated by a medical professional since a child’s skin is more sensitive.
Our caring medical providers will thoroughly assess the skin tissue damage and recommend treatment to relieve pain, while teaching you how to properly clean and bandage the burn so that it can properly heal with minimal scarring.
Most small cooking burns will heal well with good wound care. It is important, however, to look for signs of an infection. This may not occur for a few days after the injury, but if it does, you may see the skin around a burn becoming hot, red and more painful, or having increased discharge. If this happens, you may require antibiotics. A doctor should look at those burns and at any larger burns as well.
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