As a lot of you already know, my sister and I have a "pet project" called Two Sisters Talking. We posts blogs, recipes, resources, etc. Dana (my sister) wrote a great article about treating burns. And, since she works in the food industry, she knows a lot about getting burned.
I thought some of my Bon Appetit friends might enjoy the article, so I decided to share.
I ran across an old email a friend had sent about burns – a subject I know all too well about. Since cooking is not only a passion for me, it’s also my livelihood. I’m always welcoming new suggestions and treatments for 
burns.
So I thought we would pass it on to you.
A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the barrel to see how much pesticide remained in it. He raised the cover and lit his lighter. The vapors inflamed and engulfed him. He jumped from his truck, screaming. His neighbor came out of her house with a dozen eggs, yelling: “Bring me some eggs!” She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks. The neighbor woman helped her to apply the whites on the young man’s face. When the ambulance arrived and when the E.M.T.s saw the young man, they asked who had done this. Everyone pointed to the lady in charge. They congratulated her and said: “You have saved his face.” By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her. His face was like a baby’s skin.
Keep in mind this treatment of burns is included in teaching beginner fireman this method. First aid consists to spraying cold water on the affected area until the heat is reduced and stops burning the layers of skin. Then, spread egg whites on the affected are.
One woman burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. In spite of the pain, she ran cold faucet water on her hand, separated 2 egg whites from the yolks, beat them slightly and dipped her hand in the solution. The whites then dried and formed a protective layer. She later learned that the egg white is a natural collagen and continued during at least one hour to apply layer upon layer of beaten egg white. By afternoon she no longer felt any pain and the next day there was hardly a trace of the burn. Ten days later no trace was left at all and her skin had regained its normal color. The burned area was totally regenerated thanks to the collagen in the egg whites, a placenta full of vitamins.
This is definitely one for the books. I have never heard of egg whites before!!
I know that running cool water over a burn works for me. Or, when I burn a finger or two, I’ve dunked them in a cup of water with a couple ice cubes until the burning goes away. That’s the important thing I’ve learned; if it still burns, it’s burning deeper into the layers under the skin. The air will also cause it to hurt, so I’ve also used a product called “Second Skin” to cover the burn and heal.
The sooner, the better for any procedure you use.
Never place butter over a burn. It just holds the heat in and continues to burn.
The Aloe Vera plant works wonders, not only for burns, but it helps heal wounds, dermatitis and also makes a great moisturizer.
I’m just wondering how egg whites would work as a facial?? That would nice to have skin like a babies…
What’s your tried-and-true method for treating burns?
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