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Thermal (Heat or Fire) Burns

Thermal Burns Overview

Many of us have picked up a hot pan on a grill or have felt the steam from a super-hot bowl of vegetables in the microwave. Who hasn't reached into the oven and accidentally touched a red-hot rack or cookie sheet? Children often become burned when they unknowingly pull a hot cup of coffee off a countertop.

The type of burn and the severity of the burn depend on the number of layers of skin affected. Most burns are mild, but some may be severe. Most importantly, 75% of burns are estimated to be preventable.

Thermal Burns Causes

You may get burned from a number of sources. Thermal burns from fire or heat are the most common.

Thermal
- Flame
- Scald (from steam, hot or molten liquid)
- Contact (from a hot object, such as a hot cooking pan)
Electrical
Radiation ( sunburn from the sun)
Chemical

Thermal Burns Symptoms

All thermal burns (from fire or flame) cause an injury to the different layers of the skin. The type of burn and the severity of the burn you have depends on the number of layers of skin affected.

Traditionally burns were described using the word degrees (first, second, and third). Now most doctors describe burns as to their thickness (superficial, partial, and full).

The skin is made up of 3 important layers: the epidermis (or the outer layer), the dermis, and finally the subcutaneous tissues. Each corresponds roughly to the types of burns.

Superficial burn or first degree: This burn involves only the epidermis, or that outermost layer of the skin. Most people are familiar with this burn in the form of sunburn.
- Symptoms/signs - Painful, red, area turns white when touched, no blisters, moist
Partial thickness burn or second degree: This burn involves the epidermis and some portion of the dermis, that second layer of the skin. This type of burn may be broken down into superficial or deep, depending on how much of the dermis (the second layer of skin) is involved.
- Superficial symptoms/signs - Painful, red, area turns white to touch, mottling, blisters, moist, hairs still present
- Deep symptoms/signs - May or may not be painful (so deep that nerve endings may be destroyed), may be moist or dry (so deep that sweat glands destroyed), may or may not turn white when area is touched, hairs usually gone
Full thickness burn or third degree: This is the most severe burn. The burn involves all of the epidermis and dermis-the first 2 layers of the skin. Nerve endings, tiny blood vessels, hair follicles, and tiny sweat glands are all destroyed. If very severe, the burn may involve bone and muscle.
- Symptoms/signs - Painless, no sensation to touch, pearly white or charred, dry, may appear leathery