To say be careful with tea

[user87382294757]

I had no idea it could cause such a scald. Maybe a red rash (as have had with a minor splash in the past) but this time tea scalded my foot and caused a partial thickness burn- bandaged and very painful, needing changes at the GPs twice a week for the next week or two. Tricky to walk as so painful. Really horrible.

The nurse at the GP said the worst one she saw was a young woman who had full, got a Lemsip type drink and spilled it over herself, that required treatment at a burns unit, bad scarring. I was only protected by thick jeans and a top or it could have been much worse.

YANBU, a reminder never hurts.

My children were born abroad and in the new baby info pack thing you get we received these decorative stickers warning about the dangers of tea/coffee around young children. Obviously even adults with our thicker skin can be badly burned too. I hope you recover quickly OP.

Why tepid not cold? I was taught cold water asap on my first aid course and when I badly burnt myself recently and sank my hand into cold water it worked wonders ( minimal blistering and no scarring)

This is why we now have a “transporting hot beverages policy” in my workplace. I never knew tea and coffee was hot and dangerous before that

Yep, kicked a fresh cup of herbal tea over as a 10 year old and I'm much much older now and still have a huge scar over my foot!

Yes sugar makes the burn worse.
Have you got medi honey? Buy some and put it under the gel dressing.

I was taught tepid water on my first aid course (ideally for 20 mins).

The reasoning is, most people can't keep their body part under freezing cold water for that length of time.

You poor thing, horrible isn't it? I had a painful scald on my foot earlier in the year which blistered and there is still a red line across my foot to remind me.

Hope it heals soon.

Thanks- it should be OK. At least it was not over one of the DC. I was at a toddler meet up once and the a mum left a hot pot of coffee in a low level area with a red cover round it- one of the toddlers grabbed it and scalded themselves - had to call an ambulance.

So yes apparently the 2 year olds are the worse age for this the burns nurse told me

Oh OP it's awful. I burned my hand earlier this year on boiling water and haven't ever felt pain like it; I was sick a couple of times straight after and needed a few weeks of treatment at a burns unit. We're so fortunate to be able to access care like that, but it's made me so much more cautious about hot food and drinks.

It can be very difficult to sustain very cold water for the minimum 20 minutes. It can also lead to becoming hypothermic. The water should also be running.

Ds pulled my coffee off a tray into his lap last year, it was awful, we waited (a very long) 2 hours for an ambulance. He has scarring, but it is fortunately not deep scarring. The treatment from the burns unit and follow up care was incredible.

Also, we went to this Minor injuries unit and they were great- would recommend that if ever needed.

Of course, we all know about stuff like this, but seeing it in practice really brought it home as to how bad it could be.

I dribbled boiling water on my foot when I was about 10. My little toe got the worst of it and is still scarred now. Injuries on feet are really awful.

I always put some cold water in tea or coffee so I can can drink it straight away.

Plus research suggests that very hot drinks could be linked to mouth/throat/oesophageal cancer.

Yes sugar makes the burn worse.
Have you got medi honey? Buy some and put it under the gel dressing.

If sugar makes the burn worse, why is medi honey under the gel dressing a good idea? Or is medi honey not actually honey?

Although of course I know tea is boiling water I don’t think it’s a bad reminder. If you don’t have young children then you can get complacent about leaving cups on the edge of a table.

Sugar definitely makes the burn worse at the time - but medihoney is to use as part of a dressing later - just for clarification.

An interesting 'health and safety' story is that when I was working in a burns unit in the 80s, we often saw large scalds over head, neck and upper body, from kids pulling kettle leads. Since the health and safety regs, meaning kettles now don't have dangling leads, those have changed to be scalds from the contents of mugs only. Something to think about when people are talking about 'H&S gone mad' etc.

I read somewhere that kids skin is so much thinner they can still get a burn from a cup of tea 30 minutes after its made. That really surprised me, I would consider it stone cold by that point!

You all need my coffee maker. It’s incapable of making anything hot enough to be called ‘luke warm’. Seems to be a health and safety special 😂😂😂

I accidentally managed to pour a huge glass bowl of boiling water out of the kettle on my lap trying to clear my sinuses, hours in hospital in burns units and full lower leg and thigh bandages for over a month, it is the worst pain in the world, I feel your pain op

Kneeling on a freshly made hot water bottle and bursting it is exceedingly painful - I didn't know it was in the bed and knelt on the duvet to shut the window.

Hope you're okay OP.

Years ago, we were in the middle of a house move with toddlers right before Christmas. I had a terrible cold and in a delirium I just poured a cup of lemsip on my hand.

It took me ages to get out of the A and E. They didn't believe I wasn't abused. It was a fair concern, it was outrageously stupid.

Last weekI spilled half a kettle of boiling water over my left hand, when filling a hot water bottle. Yes, never use boiling water for this job. I dropped the half full bottle, put my hand and arm under the cold tap, and it was dreadful. Spent the night getting up and under the tap again. Hand was very swollen and blistered and after two days went to the nurse. Got cream and was to tie my hand inside a poly bag, but by then it was bursting blisters, so I left it open to the air. It has healed with no infection, and hopefully little scarring but the pain was horrendous! No more hwbs. Ever! .,

A scald from boiling water or even worse, steam (latent heat of vaporisation), continues to burn through the layers of skin for some time after the top layer has cooled. Keep it in cold water till you can get it treated by a medic.

I read somewhere that kids skin is so much thinner they can still get a burn from a cup of tea 30 minutes after its made. That really surprised me, I would consider it stone cold by that point!

I did a paediatric first aid course and at the start of the segment on burns and scalds the trainer poured boiling water into a heat sensitive mug. The mug changed colour from solid black to white with a red warning triangle. He said that until the mug had started to turn black again, its contents remained hot enough to burn a child. It took 45 minutes until it had gone grey and an hour before it was fully black.

I think a timely reminder does no harm and I don't know why the OP is getting so many sarcastic comments. Tea and coffee are such every day drinks that people do become complacent about how much of a hazard it can be having an uncovered mug of boiling hot liquid.