Please help, what can I cover a burn with?

[bubblebs]

I burn my hand on extremely hot water on Wednesday, I have never felt pain like it! I didn't get to sleep until 4am with my hand in a bowl of water and I woke at around 7am in agony.

The pain has subsided a little but it still hurts a lot, my index finger has blistered, but I keep knocking it because of where it is! I haven't slept properly since it happened, I keep waking up in pain.

I could do with some kind of cover/padding to protect it but I feel like a fabric bandage will hurt and cling film wont be enough protection.

Should I go to the pharmacy? Will they have bandages that aren't irritating? What kind of pain killers would be best here? Cocodamol maybe? Or ibuprofen? I really need to sleep tonight, I feel sick through lack of sleep/pain. Thank you all in advance.

From my limited knowledge of burns I dont think you should cover it. But I do think you should go to the hospital so it can be treated and you can get the right painkillers.

It sounds awful. I hope you soon get some rest.

I would cover a burn with cling film if it was somewhere I kept knocking it. However I've never burnt myself so badly I wake up in pain. How big is it? Do you need to get it checked?

Thank you @user1471538283 I did consider A&E when I couldn't sleep in the early hours of Thursday morning but the worst of the burn isn't actually that large. The area that has blistered is slightly larger than a 5p and the rest is just red/sore similar to sunburn.

That sounds worse than a usual burn, do you have a walk in clinic or something where you can get it seen? There’s a guide online that tells you when a burn needs to be seen, depending on what size or what degree it is. When DD got a bad burn they actually took all the skin off for it to heal. You should definitely try the pharmacist but that really does sound like it needs to be looked at.

If you want to cover it, cling film and then a bandage on top of that. You could also soak the bandage (or a towel or whatever padding you use) in cold water if that helps the pain, but it won't help the burn after this much time has elapsed, Only cling film touching the skin. But with this much pain, sounds like it should be seen by a medical professional.

Thank you @kittythames it covers the front of my index finger and the second finger but the worst of it/the blistered area is slightly bigger than a 5p.

I should say I am not good with pain, I consider myself to have a very low pain threshold so it is likely that the pain is a bit of a red herring

I’d go to pharmacy to get it seen.

Go to the pharmacy and ask them I don't think you need to go to walk ins or A&E just yet.

Go to the pharmacy, they have special bandages for burns that you can easily use. Also a numbing cream. So essentially, trip to your nearest pharmacy immediately

You can but an ordinary bandage over it though.

You can get special dressings for burns - go to the chemists for advice.

You can get specialist burns dressings/plasters. Do a quick Google, I think boots sell them 🙂

I've previously been to a pharmacy with a burn, and they dressed it for me, I'm in Scotland though.

I wonder if a pharmacist would actually wrap it for me? I am getting ready to go now, thankfully I have a pharmacy not far away.

I do think the pain here is a red herring, I have always thought pain affects me more than other people and I don't cope very well with even slight pain, not that I make a huge fuss or anything, but I do focus on the pain a lot and find it hard to distract myself.

And thank you all for your replies! It's really helpful, they are really helpful!

Is it over a joint? You need to get it seen if it is really.

Have you taken paracetamol? That will help. Otherwise as PP's have said, go to a pharmacy for advice.

You can get burn stuff from the pharmacy, I had hydrogel infused dressing for a burn. I think it’s called burn aid. Then cover/ pad with a normal bandage to reduce knocks.

I burnt my hand on steam a few months ago. I got a hydrocolloid dressing. It stayed on about 3 days and collected the seepage, then I put another on. By then it has almost completely healed!

See what the pharmacist recommends and get some painkillers whilst there.

This is all great thank you all! Silly question but do I just ask what they have for burns when I go in? Or do I ask to see the pharmacist?

I recently burned my arm and it’s been agony since. I went to a pharmacy in boots and they were great. I was provided with waterproof burn plasters which has helped one side heal really well. The other side of the burn is particularly bad so is taking longer. They advised what to look out for and when to go to a&e.
Beware- something I wasn’t aware of is the itchiness as the skin begins to heal- make sure you have antihistamines as they really help ease it!

Ask to see the pharmacist.

Yes the itching is a real pain. I burned my arm and now have a big scar because I kept scratching it while it was healing.

The pain is actually a good sign - the deepest burns don’t hurt because you’ve burned the nerve endings so if it hurts that a good sign, as annoying as that is. Hope you get it sorted.

How did you get on OP?

@MarmiteCoriander the pharmacy was closed for the weekend! I ended up just buying a bandage and some paracetamol from the Tesco next door and I'll see how I go, the pain has certainly subsided. Thank you for asking