About Burns
A burn is damage to your body's tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight or radiation. Scalds from hot liquids and steam, building fires and flammable liquids and gases are the most common causes of burns.
There are three types of burns:
- First-degree burns damage only the outer layer of skin
- Second-degree burns damage the outer layer and the layer underneath
- Third-degree burns damage or destroy the deepest layer of skin and tissues underneath
Burns can cause swelling, blistering, scarring and, in serious cases, shock and even death. They also can lead to infections because they damage your skin's protective barrier. Antibiotic creams can prevent or treat infections. After a third-degree burn, you need skin or synthetic grafts to cover exposed tissue and encourage new skin to grow. First- and second-degree burns usually heal without grafts.
Other types of burns include inhalation injury, caused by breathing smoke, and tissue damage from cold injuries such as frost bite. The Burn Center also treats patients with exfoliative disease such as Stevens-Johnsons Disease and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TENS).
Source: NIH: National Institute of General Medical Sciences