Cigarette burn

According to doctors, despite the minimal area of skin damage, cigarette burns cannot be ignored: such a burn can be quite deep, resulting in the formation of scars.

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Causes cigarette burns

As a rule, the causes of cigarette burns are associated with accidental contact of some area of skin with a burning cigarette. If most solid materials tend to ignite at a temperature of +300°C, then at +700°C – the temperature at the lit end of a cigarette – human skin will not be able to withstand anything, and a burn is inevitable.

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Risk factors

And the main risk factors for getting a cigarette burn are the smoking process itself (especially if the smoker is drunk). Although in order to get cigarette burns, you do not have to be a smoker: it is enough to be near people who smoke. Even when passing by a person with a lit cigarette in their hands, no one is immune from someone else's or their own carelessness, and any movement can lead to contact with the burning end of a cigarette. So you can get a cigarette burn on your face, hands and almost any exposed part of the body.

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Pathogenesis

As with all contact thermal burns, the pathogenesis of cigarette burns lies in the fact that skin proteins (keratins, collagen, etc.) are denatured under the influence of high temperatures, and 100 degrees is enough for the complete destruction of skin protein molecules.

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Symptoms cigarette burns

The very first signs of a cigarette burn are severe pain and redness of the skin. Find out here - What to do if you get a burn, as well as - How to treat a burn on the skin

The remaining symptoms of cigarette burns depend on the depth of skin damage.

If only the horny (upper) layer of the epidermis is affected, then this is the mildest burn - first degree. In addition to pain and hyperemia, the skin with such a burn swells, and hyperemia turns into erythema, that is, redness, which indicates inflammation of the skin.

Second-degree cigarette burns are deeper, affecting the underlying layers of the epidermis - shiny, granular, spiny. Such a burn leads to the exfoliation of the upper epidermal layers and the formation of a blister, which is filled with yellowish serous fluid. The skin inside the blister is red.

Even deeper layers of skin (Malpighian and papillary) are damaged by a third-degree burn, which is also accompanied by the formation of a blister, but the skin inside it is pinkish or whitish. The burned area may lose sensitivity.

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Stages

At the exudation stage, it is not recommended to puncture the blister, as it acts as a barrier that protects the skin from microbes and helps tissue regeneration. After perforation of the blister, a dry scab forms on the damaged area, and under it - at the stage of burn healing - the skin is restored by epithelialization.

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Complications and consequences

Consequences and complications include the formation of a scar at the site of a second- and third-degree burn, as well as possible suppuration of the burn surface and secondary necrosis of skin tissues - due to the inflammatory process during secondary staphylococcal infection of the burn wound. In rare cases, toxic epidermal necrolysis and sepsis may even develop. Therefore, cigarette burns should not be allowed to suppurate with the release of foul-smelling necrotic masses from the wound.

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Diagnostics cigarette burns

Cigarette burns rarely bring anyone to the doctor: usually, the victims treat them themselves. And the diagnosis of cigarette burns essentially consists of determining their degree (as mentioned above).

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Treatment cigarette burns

Effective topical agents used to treat cigarette burns are preparations based on a derivative of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) – dexpanthenol: ointments and creams D Panthenol, Pantoderm, Korneregel; aerosols Panthenol and Pantesol.

In case of burn infection, anti-inflammatory drugs recommended by doctors include Levomekol ointments (based on the antibiotic chloramphenicol and methyluracil); Levosin (chloramphenicol + sulfadimethoxine + methyluracil + trimecaine) - with an analgesic effect; streptocide ointment, Streptonitol emulsion (streptocide + nitazole); Sulfamilon hydrochloride ointment (Mafenide), Dioxizol.

Ointments can be applied directly to the burn (two to three times a day) or soaked into a sterile bandage and used as a dressing.

To speed up healing and avoid complications, you can use such products as Methyluracil ointment or Sulfamecol (dioxidine + methyluracil + trimecaine). You should use ointments not on a fat basis, but on a polyethylene oxide basis. More information is in the article Ointment for burns

Of what folk remedies offer, the most appropriate is to use aloe leaf juice and an aqueous solution of propolis - to lubricate the burn (two to three times a day) and a wet bandage, which promotes the regeneration of skin tissue and prevents the appearance of pigmented spots or scars on it.

Prevention

The best prevention for cigarette burns is to quit smoking and be careful when someone has a lit cigarette nearby…

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Forecast

In cases of even third-degree burns, the prognosis is favorable, provided that cigarette burns are treated correctly and do not develop into purulent inflammation.

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