There are two type of Water Jel, one is for minor burns, the other is good for all types of burns.

The packaging looks nearly the same, so you need to look close.

The first is: Burn Jel, and is for the type of minor burns you describe.








The other is Burn Dressing, which is a sterile gel soaked dressing thats good for 1st through 3rd degree burns.



You of course would never want to put Burn Jel on a serious burn.

Totally agree! Fresh Aloe is by far the best treatment for any kind of minor burns. Aloe vera gels that are sold in stores are not as effective since active ingredients are broken down rapidly following the leaf removal from the Aloe plant. The trick is to squeeze the goo out of the aloe leaf onto the burn asap before the tissue damage takes place. This approach is obviously not practical in the field.

Burn Jel has lidocaine in it, in addition to water soluble gel that dissipates heat. So if anyone is allergic to lidocaine don't use it. IMO this is a better product since it provides immediate pain relief as well.
Burn Free does not have any "active" ingredients, just the gelling agents with water and some Tea Tree oil (natural antiseptic). It acts by cooling the burned skin.

I used Burn Jel when my wife got burned by liquified cheese that dripped from an overheated sandwich on her hand. As she reported the burn was extremely painfull, but after Burn Jel (one with lidocaine) was applied, pain decreased by something like 70%.

I used Burn Free on a minor sunburn with good results.

Depending upon the severity and percentage of the body burned, 2nd and 3rd degree burns are often treated with dry sterile dressings/sheeting. The use of BURN DRESSINGs for substantial (in terms of body surface area) 2nd and 3rd degree burns may be contraindicated, as they may induce hypothermia due to the body’s decreased ability to thremoregulate.

Pete

Thanks to all for the replies. Looks like I'll try one of the BurnFree or BurnJel products.

I have tried the Aloe w/ Lidocaine , didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference, but then again, the bottle I had at home was probably a couple of years old at that point.

Advice concerning use of cold compresses and not applying any sort of gel or cream to more serious burns has not gone unheeded.

From what I understand, it's ok to apply an antibiotic ointment to a second or third degree burn after some amount of time has elapsed (on the order of a day) to prevent infection. Any of the professionals here have an opinion on this?

Burn Jel is designed for minor burns. If you read the package, it says:

"Do not use in large quantities, particularly over raw or blistered areas."

My understanding is that mostly for pain relief and some cooling, but the ingredients aren't appropriate for contact with severely damaged tissue.

I happened to be in my med office and asked my doc who said that absorption ratio of meds thru severe burn is much higher and that could lead to lidocaine toxicity. Lidocaine is also used as a cardiac drug that's why the caution.

Anyone knows any better or different?

In general, server burns of significant partial or full thickness burns, destroy the sensory nerves in the skin, so while very serious, are not always that painful. Pain can and does occur around the edges of the burn (3rd degree), in such cases, pain relief with medication such as morphine is preferable. In these cases, topical applications of medications containing lidocaine have very limited value and would have to be scrubbed away for definitive treatment.

Full and partial burns are life threatening, requiring specialized care such as debriding, surgical incision of the severely burn skin to allow for swelling, specialized medications for infection control, skin grafting and other medical procedures.

Burns, even 1st degree to the face, groin, circumvential around limbs and large surface areas are serious and require rapid and specialized medical care.

Pete

So what you are saying is, if they are in shock, adding painkillers is bad.

Hey, wait, isn't that the SOP? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

One thing to keep in mind is the number of people who are allergic to the entire -caine family of meds. According to some things I've read, we are increasing.

Yep, another vote for Burn Free. Just saved my neck from a skin peeler this weekend! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />