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BURNS

Even the smallest burn-accidently grazing a red-hot oven rack with one hand or singeing your neck with a curling iron-can cause big-time pain, redness, throbbing, swelling and even blistering.

Clean the burn

Gently cleanse the burn area at lest twice a day with mild soap and cool water or with hydrogen peroxide, which kills germs.

Apply antibacterial ointments

These over the counter salves will help kill germs and prevent infection. Avoid neomycin, though-it can cause a red, itchy allergic reaction in some people.

Bandage the burn

For small burns an adhesive strip will surfice. For larger burns gauze dressings and tape work better.

Keep it mobile

Keep bandages loose and move the joint stiffen up and so that skin stays supple. Movement also boosts circulation to the area, which help with healing and clears out fluid builtup.

Moisturize skin

After the wound has healed over, thinly apply a moisturizing lotion. A healing burn can have lots of itching and cracking, which interfere with the skin's ability to moisturise itself.

Fill up on fluids

Water keeps skin hydrated and helps burns heal.

Eat plenty of protein

While your burn heals, beef up on high protein foods such as skim milk, lean meats, nuts, beans, eggs, peanut butter and fat-free cheezes. Protein helps speed burn healing by rebuilding collagen, a building block of skin tissue. So with any burn your protein needs will be higher-and the larger the burn, the more protein you need.

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