DEAR DR. GOTT: I would like to share my recent burn experienced. I was making jam and pouring boiling jam into jars, when a jar tipped and when I grabbed for it, the contents went flying. The jam landed on the side and backs of both my hands from the second knuckle to past my watch band and covered about half of the area from side to side; it was an extensive burn.
I ran to the sink and washed off the sticky jam and as I was doing that, I remembered reading a recent article saying flour was a good burn cure. I shoved both hands into my flour container and left them there for about 10 minutes or so. At first, it hurt really badly but as time passed, the pain diminished. I took my hands out of the flour, afraid of what I would find. It took a minute because the flour was cooked to my hand but when I got it washed off, there were no blisters and the area was not even red. It was a little tender for a couple of days but no blister ever developed.
DEAR READER: Jam burns are notoriously bad because the jam is not only just below boiling, it is also sticky, making it much harder to get it off the skin which only worsens the burn. The fact that you came away with no redness and no blistering is, frankly, astonishing.
The first, smart thing you did in this situation was to immediately wash the jam off your hands, reducing the amount of time it was in contact with your skin. I can only hope that you used cool water (not cold and not hot) so as to reduce the heat of the burn without shocking the skin and potentially making the burn worse. However, I’m not sure that this simple step is enough to account for your experience.
I’m not sure how the flour helps burns, but your story is compelling. It’s also safe, inexpensive, and easy so I’m passing it on to my other readers in the hopes that it can save them from the pain of minor burns. (Major burns still need immediate attention from a physician.)
Other home remedies recommended by my readers include using honey to speed healing (after cooling the burn first), immediately pouring soy sauce over the area to prevent redness and scarring, mashing a tomato and applying it to the site to prevent scarring and speed healing, and more.
Readers who are interested in learning more can order my Health Reports “Dr. Gott’s Compelling Home Remedies” and “More Compelling Home Remedies” by sending a self-addressed, stamped number 10 envelope and a $2 (for each report) US check or money order to Dr. Peter Gott, PO Box 433, Lakeville, CT 06039. Be sure to mention the title when writing or print an order form from my website, www.AskDrGottMD.com.
