Lots of people are asking how the hell I managed to burn my butt cheeks and my hand a few weeks ago. Many theories floated around the office (involving bath tubs, hot water tanks, wax and tea) till I got back to work to clear up the stories. So I figured it’s probably best that I just tell you what happened. I apologize in advance for the lack of progress pictures. I thought about it but since the burns affected my right hand, it was very awkward for me to take photos. Sorry.

How it all happened
On Sunday, November 28, I decided it would be nice to have a cup of hot water with lime, sink into the corner of the living room sofa and watch the world go by through our big picture window. In getting ready to relax, I wedged my mug of freshly poured hot water between two cushions in the sofa so I could safely climb on. Sounds stupid, but I’ve done it a million times before without any problems (which of course doesn’t make it less stupid, it just makes it more likely to be repeated). One thought did occur to me when I put my mug down: I hoped our dog wouldn’t jump up onto the sofa and scald herself on the boiling water. Ironic, I know.

As I seated myself on the sofa, the mug tipped and splashed my right hip. It was hot, so I quickly tipped my right hip up and the water ran underneath me only to scald my left hip. So I put my right hand down beside me to lift myself off the sofa but the mug tipped right over and the remaining hot water splashed all over my right hand. This was possibly one of my most clumsy maneuvers ever.

In shock
I yelled like hell and Bruce came flying out of the bedroom asking what had happened. To my surprise I was able to articulate what happened as I stood by the sofa, my pyjamas drenched in hot water. He yanked off my clothes telling me that it will just make the burning worse and as he pulled the sleeve of my hoodie off my arm I witnessed my skin melting right off my hand. And that’s precisely the moment I went into shock. I started bawling, hyperventilating and screaming in pain and fear.

God bless Bruce, he ran outside to bring in some freshly fallen snow packed in towels and placed them over my hips and hand to cool the burns. We soon realized that he would have to spend all day running in and out just to keep the pain down. But I refused to go to the hospital because I was certain we would have to wait in emergency for seven hours and I couldn’t do it without the fresh snow packed on my burned skin. I told him to call HealthLink to see what they would recommend but he couldn’t get through. I told him to call my family, so he did.

My sister consulted with her fireman friend and he suggested we immediately call an ambulance because the risk of going into shock could be potentially worse than the burns themselves. That made sense. We called them, they arrived within minutes, took my vitals and gave me a shot of Gravol and morphine in the back of the ambulance. God bless our EMS. In minutes I was able to regulate my breathing, stop crying and disconnect from the pain. I could still feel the pain in my skin but I didn’t process it as pain. The EMS guy, Mike, told me this is because morphine works on your brain, not the pain. So trippy.

The diagnosis
It takes a while to get a proper diagnosis. The doctors can’t always accurately assess the level of damage on a burn immediately because of the swelling and blistering. But at about day five, I was told that I had second degree, partial thickness burns to my hand and both hips. About two weeks later, they confirmed that they were cautiously optimistic that I would not require plastic surgery or grafting. They believed I would have scarring for a number of years and that it might be discoloured and a little different in texture, but that I’d likely get my full range of motion and flexibility back. And today, just three and a half weeks later, I got the all-clear. No more padding, no more protective gloves, no more doctor’s visits. My skin is just a little pink where the burns were because there’s no pigment left there, just some skin and the capilleries underneath. They said by shielding it from the sun and cold for the next six to 12 months, putting SPF 30 and not artificially tanning (luckily, I don’t need it), it’s likely that it will just remain a tiny bit discoloured and will not leave any long-term scarring. I can’t tell you how happy I am!

What I’ve learned about burns
Here are a few things I’ve learned about how to treat burns and recover faster:

• Do not use anything other than cold water on them; there are some wives’ tales about using butter right after you burn yourself. Don’t do it, as it only makes it harder for medical staff to get it off before they bandage you and there’s no medical benefit to butter. Also, while the snow felt really good, the EMS warned that it could have bacteria, so just to use cold tap water instead (I’m glad Bruce used snow, but for those who want to be extra sure, water is the way to go).
• Call an ambulance if the burn is big or severe enough. The effects of going into shock are often worse than the burns themselves, so it’s critical to get taken care of right away. This will also get you right into the treatment area once you arrive at the hospital.
• Take the drugs.I’m not usually one to take over-the-counter or prescription medication but with burns, the pain is so bad, just take the strong stuff. I tried Kava Kava but it didn’t even come close to alleviating the pain like the Oxycontin I was given by the Doctors.
• Attend the burn clinics and let them pop the blisters. They know how to do it so that the blisters drain properly. It’s tempting to do it yourself, but just let the professionals handle it.
• If your burns are on joints, keep stretching. This will ensure that you maintain flexibility in your muscles and elasticity in your skin.
• Keep the burned areas covered to protect yourself from infection. The risk of getting infections is really high with large, open wounds like burns, so it’s important to keep them covered for as long as possible and to keep checking in with the doctors and physical therapists. Hospitals now use great wound treatment products that have colloidal silver in them which keeps the bacteria away from the wounds.
• Do your research if they recommend a tetanus shot. I am past my 10-year booster so they wanted to give me a tetanus shot. I researched the ingredients before going forward and opted not to do it because I learned there is aluminum, formaldehyde and mercury in them. Mmmm, no thanks. I’ll take the risk of tetanus.
• Feeling pain when the burn is touched is actually a good sign. That means your nerves haven’t been burned and that you are more likely to recover faster and without permanent damage.
• Burns should heal in three weeks. That’s what they hope for. If they haven’t healed properly in three weeks, they start considering other options.
• Take massive amounts of anti-oxidants to help your skin recover more quickly. I’ve been taking MaxGXL®/MaxOne™ (affiliate link) for the last few weeks and I’m amazed at how quickly my skin has recovered. After about two and a half weeks, I only had some redness on my hands and hips and I’m sure this is because of the product’s effectiveness at accelerating cellular recovery. The hospital staff is surprised at how quickly everything is healing and how little scarring seems to be left.
• Try some natural anti-scarring remedies.In addition to taking MaxGXL®/MaxOne internally, I’ve also been using Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Kosmea 100% organic rose hip oil to moisturize and keep the scarring to a minimum. It seems to be working really well. I’ve also heard that shea butter is good for building collagen.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard more burn stories and seen more burn scars than I ever thought I would. Seems it happens all the time (mostly in kitchens), so I figured it would be good to share the things I’ve learned about how to recover faster and better since it’s likely to happen to someone you know (hopefully not you).

If you’ve got any tips, feel free to share them here. Otherwise, don’t be dumb and ever leave a cup of boiling hot water on your sofa. It will spill and it will burn.

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