Burn treatment
Information for burn survivors
What is a burn?
According to the World Health Organization, a burn is “an injury to the skin, or other tissues, primarily caused by heat or due to radiation, radioactivity, electricity, friction or contact with chemicals. Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (scalds), hot solids, or fire1 .”
Support for Burn survivors
Thanks to the partnership between Mölnlycke and the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors, we can provide resources and knowledge needed for successful burn recovery, wherever you are, ensuring that no survivor must experience the harshness of recovery in isolation.
Different burn types
The skin is composed of three main layers:
- Epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin you can see and touch.
- Dermis, beneath the epidermis. This middle layer makes up about 90% of the skin´s thickness.
- Subcutaneous layer (or hypodermis), the deepest layer of the skin.
-
Deep partial-thickness burn, or second degree burn
Examples of this burn type are scalds from low and high viscosity liquids, steam, contact with hot object or exposure to flame.
- Depth: Epidermis and the deep layer of the dermis
- Drier, more pale, less blanching
- Blisters (easily unroofed)
- Increased risk of scarring and contractures
- Painful to pressure
- Healing time within 3-8 weeks. May require surgery and skin grafting.
-
Full thickness burn, or third degree burn
Examples of this burn type are scalds from liquid immersion, exposure to flame, chemicals and electricity.
- Depth: Epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous fat layer. If the injury goes deeper than that, it is somethimes called fourth degree
- Dry, leathery texture, variable colour (white, brown, black)
- Blisters do not develop
- Scarring and contractures
- Insensate to light touch and pin prick
- Healing time: Prolonged healing, take longer than 8 weeks and will require skin grafting. At fourth degree, amputation may be needed.
-
References
-
World Health Organization. Burns. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018 [cited 2025 Jul 15]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/burns.
-