![]() This content is written, edited and updated by hand surgeon members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. © 2014 American Society for Surgery of the Hand The sterile dressing will need to be changed two or three times a day, depending on the severity of the burn. Your hand surgeon will coordinate with a therapist if he or she feels that you would benefit from rehabilitation. A 2nd-degree burn that affects less than 10 of the skin's surface can usually be treated on an outpatient basis using antibiotic ointments. Deeper ones or those that occur in conjunction with other injuries may require extensive therapy and rehabilitation. Superficial burns generally will not need any formal hand therapy. Long-term follow up with your hand surgeon should be planned to evaluate for potential future surgery that could improve your hand function. Many burned hands will develop contractures, which cause stiff and constricted muscles, months or years after the original injury. ![]() Many patients with severe injuries will require more than one operation. Ideally this is within two to three weeks after the injury. After surgery, the hand is splinted (Figure 3) until the skin is healed. ![]() The dead skin will need to be removed and replaced with skin grafts, which is a surgical procedure. Wound healing occurs within two to three weeks. If there are open and raw surfaces, cleaning, frequent dressing changes, and the application of local topical antibiotics should be performed until the wounds are healed. The hand and forearm should be splinted in a position of safety to prevent later stiffness. They usually heal within a week.īlisters on the hand may or may not be trimmed. These are treated primarily for comfort with local pain killers. Those just on the hand may be treated on an outpatient basis if the pain can be adequately controlled. Burns over a major percentage of the body require hospitalization special care. How to treat a burn depends on the severity of the burn. Treatment focuses on preventing further problems with stiffness and infection. Initial first aid measures include removing the hand from the source of heat and keeping it clean.
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