It’s not my intent to start another essential oil thread, but…
Lavender Essential oil is the best thing to put on cuts, scrapes and
burns in the workshop (or the kitchen). As soon as you are injured
apply the oil directly to your skin. If it’s a good burn you’ll have
to apply ice as well. It really works. Take it from someone who has
lots of experience burning themselves while taking things out of the
oven!
Pam from very rainy Massachusetts
Thanks Pam, that’s good to know. Another fabulous remedy for burns
is, pure vanilla extract. Saturate a cotton ball with vanilla, and
tape it to the burn. In most cases you won’t even blister. I always
have a bottle by my bench.
I recently burnt my left index finger with my torch. I bent to pick
up something and wasn’t watching what I was doing. A blister formed,
but I was trying to finish a piece so I just kept working. When I
quit about two hours later, I put toothpaste on it which a friend
swore would work. It felt kind of silly but I did it anyway. To my
surprise, the blister was gone in the morning! It was still slightly
tender and a little red so I re-applied my new wonder ointment. By
afternoon, I could not feel or see where it was. I thought that
surely the skin would peel eventually but it never did. I now keep a
tube at my workbench. Someone else might be able to explain why this
worked, but I can’t. I only know it worked for me. Was it just the
power of suggestion? Hmmmmm…
Please don’t try it at home, Hanuman
Vinegar sometimes works well too. (Especially good for sunburn, but
ti souleprobably work OK for other burns too.) of course, it doesn’t
smell as good as vanilla!
margaret
Yet another remedy for burns is Aloe Vera. I simply have a plant in
my studio/shop and chop off a piece of a leave, split it and rub the
burn with the interior. This way one can also avoid blisters in many
cases. I teach this trick to my students and often even supply them
with little plants to take home to their home studios. Kind regards
Niels Lovschal Bornholm, Denmark
Niels is right about the aloe vera plant. Sometimes when I can’t
stop what I’m doing I’ll just chop of a small piece, split it and
band-aid it to the burn, and go on with what I was doing. The
important thing is to get it on the burn quickly.
Janet Kofoed
I concur with Niels Loevschal. Many years ago I was severely burned
in a natural gas explosion. I had second and third degree burns to my
face, eyes, neck and underarms. After the doctor treated the burns
and concussion, and where the burns hadn’t destroyed the nerve
endings, I was in extreme pain. A neighbor lady decided the aloe
couldn’t hurt, and might help. Twice a day I would go to her house
and she put aloe on my burns and dripped it into my eyes (I was
totally blind). To this day, I have no scarring, and my eyesight was
regained. I don’t tan on some areas. I don’t know if was due to the
remarkable healing powers of being a child at the time, or if it
really was the aloe. But my home has never been without an aloe
since, and it still takes away the pain and heals the burn.
I’ve found ice works wonders and will keep burns from blistering, if
used immediately, SO I now keep frozen aloe leaves in my freezer at
work and home, Works well enough to keep from blistering even when
blazing shellac dripped on my hand.
____Thomas Blair CBJ*
www.islandgoldworks.com
@Island_Gold_Works