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.

That's a shocking story Graphista- very sorry to hear. Yes if you think about how the majority of playgroups with toddlers have tea, available and even given out who they are running around it is quite scary really.

I've never liked seeing hot drinks at toddler groups. Completely unnecessary.

Cousins parents never really forgave themselves, an accident yes but an easily avoidable one - they say this themselves.

They're now grandparents via their other child and naturally all 3 are very cautious regarding hot drinks generally and don't have them at all around the grandchildren.

I actually found this reminder really helpful and I'm so sorry that you've got a nasty, painful burn OP.

I did once spill just-boiled hot chocolate on myself and immediately jumped into a freezing cold shower for 10 minutes but it's really important for people to be aware of such an everyday hazard.

Not surprised at all.

I still remember being about 17? And ordering a cup of tea that was served on a small metal tray so customers could carry the cup, additionally hot water etc to their table from the bar.

Anyhow, the cup spilled and the hot water spilled over the edge of the tray on my hand. Not being near a table and not wanting to just drop it... I appearently just kept standing there whilst my fingers got scalded.

Two fingers were nearly twice the size they usually were and there were more blisters on the rest of my hand.

I probably should have gone to the hospital but I was young (and stupid) so I didn't. My mother had a bit of a freak out when I came home.

I couldn't use that hand for writing for at least a month. (was probably more but it luckily occcured during the winter holiday.)

'I appearently just kept standing there whilst my fingers got scalded'

I'm saying apparently because I'm not sure how long I stood like that. Probably a very short amount of time... My friend realised what had happened and took the tray out of my hands.

Yup, not one of my finest moments. Dropping the tray and paying for the broken cup and pitchers would have been a much better idea...

The water should also be running.

I was told that in a training course - it explained why I'd had a worse blistering when house mate at uni threw me out of the kichen as her friends were over insiting a cold mug of water and finger dipped for my burn would do the same - it really didn't.

Only once one of ours knock over a cup - a toddler- DH's and still very hot -stripped and straight into a cold bath and shower - in and out for 20 minutes plus- as they got to cold- very slight red mark that went by bedtime.

@bigKiteFlying

Interesting. I semi recently took a first aid class and we were taught that room temperature, running water was best...

On the other hand... (totally anecdotal know) my father and a friend of his once had a minor-ish kitchen explosion. DF put his friend under the shower and called the ambulance... The friend apparently had a very 'good' recovery.

(I have no idea whether that was the right course of action. But my father was a medic when he had to join the army so I assume it was... 🤷🏻‍♀️)

I heard of an accident with twin toddler girls, about 40 years ago, where sadly one of them died after she pulled a pot of tea over herself. That is how dangerous tea/coffee, hot drinks can be.

What a horrible accident!.Its always good to refresh our memories, as these things happen so quickly.When my daughter was about 2 ,I was ironing and she nearly pulled iron on top of her!.Learnt quickly ,and still dont iron anything at all now (All in Tumble drier TBH!) unless really warm outside (Daughter now 31 and ok)!

I thought you were going to say be careful because of the fluoride… There was a report that came out about Tea having a lot more fluoride, and that being bad for you. I wasn't aware of it until I saw that. I think it was the black tees and the flavored teas.

This is what I was talking about.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808922/

Interesting. I semi recently took a first aid class and we were taught that room temperature, running water was best...

hmm haven’t been told that - but I wonder if that's because cold water is hard for 20 minutes - small burns on hands it's usually cold tap till numb then take it out then under again when numbness gone. Did similar for toddler - in and out to warm up then back in.

Dentist told us tea had fluoride in - DC have started wanting it - he said de-caff with no sugar was a good choice of drink compared to other options. It never occurred to me to worry about additional fluoride in water and adding to that being too much- in fact quick google its unclear if we have that added or not where we are currently it was proposed then stopped and it's not clear if it's goen ahead or not.

hmm haven’t been told that - but I wonder if that's because cold water is hard for 20 minutes - small burns on hands it's usually cold tap till numb then take it out then under again when numbness gone. Did similar for toddler - in and out to warm up then back in.

It's because the burn needs at least 20 minutes of water to minimise blistering.

It's impossible to hold part of your body under a freezing cold tap for 20 minutes.

All the 'in and out and warming up' is unnecessary and can add to more severe blistering.

All the 'in and out and warming up' is unnecessary and can add to more severe blistering.

yea I could see that - as the burn is still going when there's no water running over it. Good to know for the future.

What they told us:

If it's large burns you / the burned person will get undercooled / hyperthermic before the ambulance arrives. Which can cause fairly major issues, especially when you're already dealing with a burn victim.

They also said to not ever use cold water for small children with small burns.

(if you're an adult and simply have a small burn on your thumb it's obviously a different scenario.)

Wet compresses are also a good idea for the transport. (especially if you live rurally / are driving the injured to the hospital yourself). Cool packs are apparently a major no as well and completely useless. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also, for context: one average cup of tea is enough to burn up to 30% of a baby / small toddler's skin! And small children are also those that are most likely to suffer hyperthermia... So yeah, I agree with the OP, it's a super important issue.

I think it's always useful to remind people of how bad the consequences of everyday hazards can be, OP. As a pp said, because you're around cups of tea/coffee all the time, it's easy to forget. This is why nurseries don't allow hot drinks in rooms but parents get complacent in home environments because they are familiar and therefore seem risk free. I hope that you recover soon and well. Burn pain is horrible.

bigKite it was news to me too when I did the recent course as before that, I'd always done it your way.

We all 'know' these things but accidents still happen.

I was having problems with my back so went to make a hot water bottle, I boiled the kettle and as I poured, over the sink,my back went into spasm and I poured boiling water over my chest.

Obviously I know pouring boiling water over my chest was going to hurt.

I now have a hot water bottle that goes in the microwave.

When ds was scalded last year, the ambulance took a long time (2 hours) and we ended up in a situation where ds was going into shock, he also was cold (I had ripped his shorts off as soon as the coffee hit his leg) but if we took the cool water off his leg for a second it was even worse. He had dreadful blistering and it went around the circumference of his thigh (making it more severe and therefore more urgent to get treated quickly). I feel sick when I think about it.

I think it might be safer to just use those cold soak tea bags which you can put in a bottle with cold water. Or perhaps a toddler non spill beaker.

There are this hot drinks cuts you can buy instead of disposable cups wonder if they might be a bit better in terms of spillage, not sure.

About the hot water bottle, take care as those microwavable ones can be dangerous too, I have also heard of burns from chemical ones as well. heat pad type things. And children getting burns from hot water bottles which leak as they fall asleep :-(

Maim please note that people will become hypothermic not hyperthermic. Hypo is low and hyper is high.

Thanks :)

Just tried to spell hypothermic and it was switched back. Oh well... 😅

Hydrocolloid dressings are fantastic things. I burned my arm badly when I had the flu, and knocked over the electric steam thing that i had going to help me breathe. I was so out of it that it took me a minute or so to register that it hurt, and I ended up with a palm sized blister on my forearm, and the skin basically slid off like jelly. There's no scar at all after using hydrocolloid dressings on it until it was healed.