What am I supposed to do with this? Burnt finger; pic included

[Errolwasahero]

I burnt my finger on Monday; didn’t cover it or anything; put a non-stick dressing on it Tuesday as I needed to protect it, but it got sore and the skin broke. Went to boots and got a hydrocollordial (sp?) dressing, put one on and replaced it today.

Now this evening it’s really sore and swollen. I’ve put savlon on because it’s now a wound but it’s got worse, I think. Is there anything I should do different? I’ll go to the pharmacist tomorrow but am a bit worried now!

I’ll add the pic next post.

Pic for info:

Use a hydrocolloid plaster and keep it on until it falls off naturally.

You're not supposed to replace the hydrocolloid dressings, just put it on and wait until it falls off. Otherwise, as you found out, you mess up the healing process.

Do you have any sudocrem? I would pack it with sudocrem and put a big plaster on it. DH burned his thumb with an oxyacetylene torch about a month ago and that worked miracles. The pharmacist recommended it. But definitely get it looked at.

Thank you; I couldn’t keep it on it kept coming loose! Is there a ‘best’ type? I just got boots’ own. The edge would roll up and water got in 😩. But I’ll put another one on tonight then. 👍

I haven’t got sudocrem but will look into that, thanks.

I don't think you are supposed to put hydrocolloid plasters on broken skin, check the box first.
I wouldn't put anything on it now, I'd leave it to breathe, keep it clean. If it needs protecting Id pop a non stick dressing on and hold in place with micropore tape.

Hands face and feet need minor injuries unit. Go see someone tonight or tomorrow

You'd be best asking a pharmacist as you've seen on here you'll get a lot of mixed opinions.

I think it's doing as well as can be expected, keep up the savlon and keep it clean, it's an awkward spot to wrap properly.

The idea of hydrocolloid plasters is to keep the area moist to help healing but again close to a joint is near impossible to keep on might be worth using some medical tape around it to hold it on?

If the redness spreads of it becomes warm that's a sign of infection so keep an eye on it.

See your GP tomorrow, or minor injuries (per PP). Definitely no sudocrem. Just cover it in a non-stick dressing til morning, and a light bandage around that for added protection.

Petroleum jelly (if you only operate on brand name it is vaseline as most people on this forum do) and some sort of dressing to cover it - even if it is only tissues. Then, on top of this, pop an pack (or bag of frozen peas) until the heat/pain has gone from it - keep substituting the ice packs until you feel no pain.

It will start to heal, then at some point go soggy again so keep it covered.

I am always burning myself on the oven. If do this the minute you burn it, I promise you will wake up the next morning with just the remnants of a burn.

I thought it would look much worse from your description op! I had one like that on my arm a while ago. It hurt, it felt worse, it kept on weeping, it hurt more and eventually it got better. Scar for a month or three. Gone now, can't even remember when it was
I did see a pharmacist on day 3 I think and she said they don't recommend the keep it covered anymore but I did use a dressing for a while because it kept rubbing on my sleeve and getting fibres in.

I'm really surprised pp say it needs minor injuries, the pharmacist wasn't fazed.

Having just completed a first aid course…

Never put anything on a burn apart from water (from a tap, not refrigerated and no ice) and cling film if you need to keep it clean to get to a&e.

You only need a&e if the wound is over the size of your hand - unless there are other factors like it’s got dirty, or it’s a chemical burn.

Even over the counter burn dressings are strongly discouraged - they tend to do more harm than good.

Keep the wound open if possible, the air will help heal. It will be sore as it heals. If you believe infected, go see your pharmacist.

@Lollypop25 yeah I saw that! It’s all a bit confusing isn’t it?!

@TotHappy haha yeah it’s not that bad is it! I was just trying to make sure no one got caught out, hate those posts that don’t say what they’re about.

Vaseline and some sort of a plaster type dressing will do. It looks clean and like it’s healing. Bloody awkward place tho!! Mepilex dressings are good, you can get them from the pharmacy or Amazon.

As PP said don’t put anything on a burn.
Ask a pharmacist tomorrow but tonight just leave it.

Agree with others not to cover it. Keep it clean, dry and aired and it'll heal.

If I had a ‘minor’ burn, I would definitely use a small hydrocolloid plaster. They can be used in these circumstances. Esp now it is a wound.
Burns are v painful so good luck.

On fingers and not just healing perfectly you should definitely see a GP/minor injuries. The risk is that you get scar tissue forming and that you then can't bend your fingers properly. So it probably needs properly dressing to minimise that.

Might be worth seeing a nurse at your GP for advice on dressings, I burnt my hand last week and have been seeing the nurse at my GP’s for dressings.

Just thought I’d show you and anyone interested how it’s going! Took the advice to keep it covered and not let it dry out, which the pharmacist confirmed, and I think it’s finally on the mend. Thanks for all your input 👍

Today

Good to see it's healing. Keeping wounds dry and aired is old advice and prolongs healing, you want to keep them covered.

Good to see it’s on the mend it looked sore.