3rd degree burn

[meeks]

So I was at a trade show in Toronto the last weekend of October. The booth across from us was a shiatsu clinic, and on the last day of the show I went their for a massage. they used hot stones that had been heated up in an electric wok full of hot water and then wrapped them in towels. Long story short, I received a 3rd degree burn just beneath my calf muscle, from a hot rock being placed there to elevate the legs and 'relax the muscles'.

I went to a plastic surgeon's today to determine whether or not I need a skin graft. He said he normally would but because of the location being to 'mobile' it wouldn't 'take' so I need to wait another couple of months for it to fully heal. They did a debrievement (cutting off the cooked tissue with a knife or cutter to allow the new skin to grow over the wound) and sent me home (this was at about 12:30pm). They used about 5 or 6 injections with a needle to numb the area - ever had a needle inserted into a 3rd degree burn? The patients in the waiting area could hear me swearing in pain.

So the freezing wore off around 10 after 4 in the afternoon. I know from having this burn the last 3.5 weeks that this kind of pain was going to keep me up at night so I called my family doctor to get a prescription for painkillers (something I never really use if at all possible) and they closed at 4, telling me to call in the morning. So I took some Ibuprofen instead. Seemed to work (too 2 pills at 200mg each) but it suddenly wore off about 930pm. I called the local pharmacy and explained my situation with the pain. They recommended Tylenol with codeine (over the counter, no prescription strength) instead of Ibuprofen. So I took 2 more Ibuprofens and went to the pharmacy to buy the tylenol with codeine. Didn't take the tylenol since the Ibuprofen had dulled the pain.

Well - woke up at 315 in excrutiating pain! took 1 tylenol. laid there in bed tossing and turning waiting for it to kick in. at 340 I took another. restless, agitated from the pain, feel like I'm sweating from the stress of it.at 4:10am I realized my hands were numb from the pills but made no effect whatsoever on the pain in my leg - I said 'screw these' and took an Ibuprofen. REALLY agitated from the pain for the last hour. 430am I took a 2nd Ibuprofen....now it's 5am, just took a 3rd Ibuprofen and am hoping this will start to ease the sharp, cutting pain I am experiencing. I can't go to emergency at the hospital to get some real pain medication because my wife and baby are sleeping in the next room - I can't abandon them to drive to the hospital in case my wife needs me to help with the baby and I'm not about to wake them up and pack them along - baby doesn't sleep well at night (waked hourly) and my wife is just exhausted.

the burn is 6cm by 3cm - that's about 2.5 inches by 1.2 inches. It's been 3.5 weeks now and I eat Ibuprofen like Pez candies because of this. I'm really f***ing pissed now, having to suffer this f***ing pain like this.

I left a link to the pics for those that want to see what a 3rd degree burn looks like...I am not posting it in this thread so you actually CHOOSE to view these - not for the squeamish!

this one is from 1 week after the trade show:
http://www.pricksofthetrade.com/images/features/DSC01183.jpg

this one is from yesterday:
http://www.pricksofthetrade.com/images/features/DSC01431.jpg

any advice for effective pain management?

PS - I nominate these pics for the EF 'most disgusting pic of 2008' awards that we usually do in December

[Michael]

Dave, sorry to hear about your bad luck there. Sounds like you're keeping your cool and I hope you get some pain relief. The pictures are gnarly, but actually not as bad as I expected. Never had any bad burns, but lots of road rash, so maybe I'm used to seeing stuff like that.

[FigureFour]

if youre that serious about getting rid of the pain and cant get a serious prescription any time soon then there is another option that falls into a legal grey area. using cold water you can separate the tylenol part of the tylenol and codeine from your pills and then consume a larger dose of codeine without fearing the liver damage that overdosing on tylenol would do. i wont go into how to actually do it and dosing, but im sure 5 minutes of google would help you out.

in the future id say take a course in vipassna (obviously not gonna help you right now). very effective for pain management, itching (as in allergic reactions), and keeping your cool when youre really pissed.

[cdobe]

I feel very sorry for you and hope you recover well.
I also hope you get a good financial compensation for all that you have to suffer from this.

CD

[Dr.Rob]

That sucks.. I hate unregulated health care...lets go there and kick there door in.

pm Chris McKinney...he has got some wicked ass hypnosis techniques. Find an acupuncturist to do a nevre block...Not sure who in BC to refer you too??

The other trick is see an Osteopath and release the surronnding skin and fascia to take the slack off the scar..(decrease pressure through the scar)

Third your MD should give you some NuSkin to keep the area cool.

The plastic surgeon I use to work with just use to rub sterile Petroleum Jelly on gauze place it gently over the scar tape it exteriorly for about 3 weeks.

Please take care these infect very easy.

[Doc Stier]

meeks:

The very best treatment for severe burns that I have ever used is a Homeopathic Medicine, KALI MURIATICUM 6X HPUS. I have used it successfully many times to treat 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my own body, on my kids, and on clinic patients. These are available without a prescription from several reputable manufacturers including Boiron, Boericke & Tafel, and Hyland's, among many brands, available either in soft tablet form or in pellet form. These are taken orally to dissolve under the tongue as directed on the label. Here's an example of each form:



As a case in point, on a wilderness camping trip with the family, one of my young children tripped while running near the campfire and fell forward into a large bed of red hot coals, receiving multiple 3rd degree burns on the palm of one hand and the adjoining wrist and forearm. We were nearly 100 miles from the nearest small town hospital at the time, so I soaked the burned arm and hand in ice water and administered doses of KALI MURIATICUM 6X HPUS until we reached the hospital, where an anti-biotic burn cream (silver sulphadiazine) was applied with bandages. I continued to administer doses of Kali Muriaticum 6X regularly until we visited our Family Practice Physician back home three days later. He was very surprised to discover that most of the burns had healed by 75% or more during only three days time, and stated that this couldn't possibly be due to daily applications of the silver sulphadiazine cream and bandage changes alone. He and his staff were so impressed by this Homeopathic Kali Muriaticum medicine that he now recommends it for all of his burn patients as a normal course.

My kid's burns healed without any scars whatsoever, and I have repeatedly seen the same results with others.

Check it out! Good luck, and get well soon!

Doc

[I-mon]

holy shit dude that's messed up. did you mention to them while you were getting your massage that perhaps the stones were a little warm?

hope you feel better soon! maybe you could try switching over to those organic painkillers BC is famous for....


sweet jesus i just saw the pics. that's fucking gross!

did you sue them yet?

[GrahamB]

shiatsu = sucks. Freakin hippies! At least with Reiki they don't actually touch you so their quack medicine can't do you any harm

I'm also quite interested to know if you left the stones on and didn't realise they were burning you - or if you swore and went 'what the fuck was that!' immediately.

[dragontigerpalm]

Doc's recommendation of Kali Muriaticum 6X sounds great and definitely worth checking out - I know I will. My own experience with silver sulphadiazine cream by itself on burns has been tremendous. Earlier this year I received a nasty 2nd degree burn on the top of my hand which I was treating by myself with aloe and triple antibiotic ointment. During a fight at the club the burn got all scraped up and the skin and blisters torn. Fortunately the next day a woman I know who is a doctor (an ob/gyn who I now call my gynecologist) saw my hand and recommended silver sulphadiazine. The improvement was fast and spectacular and consequently I have no scarring just a barely perceptible darkening of the area that was burned. This past Saturday night one of the bartenders at the club was burned by splattering hot oil in a kitchen accident from her shoulder to her forearm prior to my arrival. She didn't want to go to the ER and lose a night's income so she smeared butter all over her arm which one should never do. When I got to the club and saw her arm I had her wash off the butter and apply the silver sulphadiazine (left over from my experience) which I kept with bandages etc, in my car. Within 2 hours the appearance of her arm was markedly improved.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

wtf?

who's treating you man? that thing should be near healed after this amount of time.

why is there still so much pus?
why were you injected without drops of anesthetic on the surface first?

It doesn't look like it's being kept clean properly or disinfected regularly.

You need someone to help you with this and toe be aggressive with the treatment.
Gangrene can set into a wound like that with relative ease.

Also, sue the shit out of the hot stone massage place. Get these fuckin yahoos off the scene. I personally am disappointed in the weak political will of our government when it comes to these types of practices. They should be strictly regulated like any medicinal outlet and not be allowed to just spring up.

Holistic stuff for the most part is hippy dippy shit. Very, very, extremely few natural healers of any merit whatsoever. Seriously flawed system of education associated with much of it at the root. Most should stick to nutritional advice and regular massage.

This kind of stuff just pisses me off too.

[fuga]

get better, meeks

[DeusTrismegistus]

I agree with Darth. You should be nearly healed. It doesnt look any smaller, and kinda looks worse.

Sue the shit outta those people. It takes an idiot to put a rock on someone that hot enough to give a third degree burn.

[cerebus]

Damn, sorry to hear about this man. I hope you get it taken care of soon. Be well bro...

[qiphlow]

ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory as well as an analgesic. i normally take 800 mg of ibuprofen when i have trouble with my back or whatever. if you are taking 200-400 mg, it's every 6 hrs. if taking 600-800, it's every 8 hours.
BE CAREFUL: ibuprofen can have some nasty gastric side effects with some people, so make sure to take it with food or milk. also, some say it can be damaging to the kidneys if you take too much. caveat emptor.
if you can get your hand on some silvadene cream, that's good for the burn.
as others have said, KEEP IT CLEAN. a good antibacterial liquid soap and water should be good. showers, not baths, as the running water will help debride the wound somewhat.
these can make pretty thick scars, which can inturn impede the normal mobility of the skin due to the hardness and thickness of the scar tissue, so after you're all healed up, you can try one of the various scar softening products that are available over he counter, or see a plastic surgeon who may be able to prescribe something.
also, ask your doc if a course of antibiotics might be good for it.
and one more thing about the silvadene cream--it can make the wound look like it's making a bunch of pus, so don't get freaked out about that.
hope you feel better soon...

[nianfong]

hey dude, are you gonna sue the hell out of that shiatsu clinic? I mean, 3rd degree burns smell like cooked meat right? they knew they burned you after they finished treating you, I'm guessing?

sorry about the wound man. try to see a good TCMD wherever you are, man... acupuncture works wonders. as does some good herbal treatments on the wound, and ingested.