About Burn Injuries

There are a couple of essential factors In determining how bad a burn is, which include how hot the skin gets and how long the burn lasts. The location of the burn, the thickness, water and oil content of the skin, the quantity of subcutaneous fat and the amount of blood vessels in the skin vary from one location to the next and can play a major role in the severity of the burn.

Diagnosing A Burn Injury

Burns are rated based on the percentage of the body that they cover as well as by the depth of the burn. In burns that cover large areas of the body, it is not uncommon for different areas to have burns that reach different depths.

Typically, the deepest burns are at the center of the area that is burned. An experienced burn specialist’s examination is the most dependable way of calculating the depth and severity of a burn injury.

Injury to the respiratory system which causes the respiratory system to fail is a potentially fatal condition that frequently occurs in victims that are burned in fires. Among burn victims, inhalation injury is one of the most common causes of death.

Severe burns that occur from prolonged heat exposure associated with smoke inhalation almost always affect the lungs, whereas flash burns frequently damage the face, but rarely involve the airways because the exposure is usually of a short duration.

The Depth Of A Burn Extends The Healing Time

The deeper the burn damage is, the greater the amount of layers of the epidermis and the dermis that are injured. Because the sweat glands and the roots of the hair follicles are located in the deeper layers of the dermis, they will be damaged by the deeper burns.

Compared to superficial burn injuries, deep burn injuries heal more slowly, are more complicated to treat, and are far more prone to have complications.

Classifying Burn Injuries

Recently there have been a few changes to the names that are given specific types of burns. What was previously known as a first degree burn, which is an injury to the surface layer of skin, or the epidermis, is now called a “superficial burn.”

What was once called a second degree burn, which is involves damage to the second layer of skin or the dermis, is now called a “partial thickness” or “dermal” injury.

The third degree burn, which is damage that extends down to the third layer, or the subcutaneous tissue including the fat layers, is now called a “full thickness” injury.

The most severe burns, or fourth degree burns, which are the burns that injure muscles, organs and bones underneath the subcutaneous skin layer, are now called “full thickness” burns with damage to the underlying muscle.

Length of Time For Healing

Superficial burns will usually heal within 5 to 7 days. Sunburn is a common example of  a superficial burn. The top layer of skin, the epidermis, is effortlessly replaced because it is very thin, roughly about the thickness of a piece of onion skin paper.

The skin normally replaces the epidermis every 45 to 75 days, even when skin is not damaged. On some occasions, there may be a few permanent discolorations in the healing of a superficial burn, but  typically healing takes place with no scarring.

Partial thickness burns can require skin grafting depending on the depth of the burn. In most cases, partial thickness burns leave scars.

Full thickness burns result in the loss of not just the skin, but the hair follicles, sweat glands, and the area where new skin cells are produced. Full thickness burns will require  skin grafts in all cases.

Full thickness burns with damage to the underlying muscle are frequently life-threatening because the burn goes completely through the skin into the underlying tissues including the ligaments, muscles and in some cases to the bones.

Estimating The Size Of A Burn

There are standards that are applied when calculating the size of a burn, or the TBSA, the “total body surface area” that has been burned.

One of the older established ways of determining the amount of the body that has been burned is  called “The Rule Of Nines.”  This method is based on the rough approximation that every arm has 9% of the body’s total skin, the head 9%, each leg is 18%, or two nines, the front of the torso 18%, the back of the torso 18%, and the neck 1%.  These add up to 100% of the skin covering the body.

In burns that cover large areas of the body, the patient does not have a sufficient amount healthy skin to graft onto the burned area, so skin grafts are carried out over time as new skin tissue grows in the unaffected areas of the body.

Burn Related Facts

Where you live can increase or decrease your chances of being a victim of a burn injury. About half of all burn injuries worldwide take place in Southeast Asia.  People that live in less developed countries tend to experience burn injuries more often than those that live in developed nations.

Your sex can also affect what type of burn you might get. Men are more vulnerable to industrial burn accidents, while women are more apt to be burned in cooking accidents.