Treatment

Most minor burns can be treated at home. They usually heal within a couple of weeks.

For serious burns, after appropriate first aid and wound assessment, your treatment may involve medications, wound dressings, therapy and surgery. The goals of treatment are to control pain, remove dead tissue, prevent infection, reduce scarring risk and regain function.

People with severe burns may require treatment at specialized burn centers. They may need skin grafts to cover large wounds. And they may need emotional support and months of follow-up care, such as physical therapy.

Medical treatment

After you have received first aid for a major burn, your medical care may include medications and products that are intended to encourage healing.

• Water-based treatments. Your care team may use techniques such as ultrasound mist therapy to clean and stimulate the wound tissue.
• Fluids to prevent dehydration. You may need intravenous (IV) fluids to prevent dehydration and organ failure.
• Pain and anxiety medications. Healing burns can be incredibly painful. You may need morphine and anti-anxiety medications — particularly for dressing changes.
• Burn creams and ointments. If you are not being transferred to a burn center, your care team may select from a variety of topical products for wound healing, such as bacitracin and silver sulfadiazine (Silvadene). These help prevent infection and prepare the wound to close.
• Dressings. Your care team may also use various specialty wound dressings to prepare the wound to heal. If you are being transferred to a burn center, your wound will likely be covered in dry gauze only.
• Drugs that fight infection. If you develop an infection, you may need IV antibiotics.
• Tetanus shot. Your doctor might recommend a tetanus shot after a burn injury.

Physical and occupational therapy

If the burned area is large, especially if it covers any joints, you may need physical therapy exercises. These can help stretch the skin so that the joints can remain flexible. Other types of exercises can improve muscle strength and coordination. And occupational therapy may help if you have difficulty doing your normal daily activities.

Surgical and other procedures

You may need one or more of the following procedures:

• Breathing assistance. If you've been burned on the face or neck, your throat may swell shut. If that appears likely, your doctor may insert a tube down your windpipe (trachea) to keep oxygen supplied to your lungs.
• Feeding tube. People with extensive burns or who are undernourished may need nutritional support. Your doctor may thread a feeding tube through your nose to your stomach.
• Easing blood flow around the wound. If a burn scab (eschar) goes completely around a limb, it can tighten and cut off the blood circulation. An eschar that goes completely around the chest can make it difficult to breathe. Your doctor may cut the eschar to relieve this pressure.
• Skin grafts. A skin graft is a surgical procedure in which sections of your own healthy skin are used to replace the scar tissue caused by deep burns. Donor skin from deceased donors or pigs can be used as a temporary solution.
• Plastic surgery. Plastic surgery (reconstruction) can improve the appearance of burn scars and increase the flexibility of joints affected by scarring.