I noticed an article in the newspaper yesterday about low-temperature burns. With the increase in burn patients I've been treating lately, I thought I might share some information about low-temperature burns with you today.
We normally tend to think burns occur from hot temperatures higher than 100 degrees (Celsius), but this is a common misconception. Our skin can also get burned from prolonged exposure to temperatures as low as 40-45 degrees; this is called a low-temperature burn. Most often, such burns are caused by heating products such as electric heating pads, hot water mats, and hot packs.
Low-temperature burns can actually be more dangerous than high-temperature burns, since the skin is exposed longer to heat and damages layers deeper in the skin. Typical second-degree burns can heal within about two weeks, but low-temperature burns may require longer than a month for full recovery.
I myself have experienced a nasty low-temperature burn last winter, which had been quite a nuisance for more than two months. I'm very sensitive to cold, and always use an electric hot pack before going to bed. One morning, I woke up to a huge blister with a diameter of about 7 mm on my left wrist.
About a week after the blister settled down, the skin around that area turned white, sank in, and wouldn't show any signs of healing. It was in awful condition, as you can see from the photo.
I dressed the burn as best as I could, but even after a month it stayed exactly the same; it healed so little that even my dermatologist colleagues from the clinic thought of it as quite a peculiar case.
I think it might have been because the burn was around the wrist bone, where the skin is thinner and constantly active (since we move around our hands a lot). And on top of that, my wounds just don't tend to heal well in general.
About 5-6 weeks after my burn, I was still not noticing any improvement. I finally made a big decision to remove all the tissues around the burn and stitch the skin together. My fellow dermatologist Dr. Choi Wujin was kind enough to operate on me. If this didn't work, my last option would be a skin graft... but since skin grafts can leave significant scarring, I wanted to avoid it at all costs.
Since frequent movement in the wrists could put too much tension on the surgery area and result in skin necrosis, I kept my wrist in a cast, made for me by my father, who is an orthopedic surgeon.
I kept the cast on even as I treated my patients. Each time I dressed that wound, I would add PRP and PDRN injections to help with the healing process.
Two weeks later, my burn had finally healed. Of course, it had still left a scar. The photo below was taken a few days after my stitches were removed.
I was so happy that my burn had finally healed! ^^
As for the scar, it is getting progressively smaller with laser treatments such as Excel-V and Mosaic. Now it just looks like a slight bruise.
I had treated many burn patients in the past, but I had no idea how tough it would be to actually experience one myself. I couldn't wash myself or even change clothes properly.
Of course, now that I know what it's really like, I'm more eager to treat fellow burn patients and can explain the guidelines and cautions in better detail.
To everyone out there, please be careful of burns at all times, and visit a dermatology clinic right away if you ever do get burned!
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