Burns Symptoms

Burn symptoms tell you the burn's depth - and depth decides everything: home care, doctor, or emergency.

Surface (first-degree) burn

• Red, dry, painful skin - like sunburn
• No blisters; mild swelling
• Painful to touch; heals in about a week without scarring

Partial-thickness (second-degree) burn

• Blisters: the defining sign - clear fluid-filled bubbles on red, moist skin
• Very painful - air itself hurts it
• Weeping surface; heals in 2-3 weeks; deeper ones can scar
• Small ones (smaller than the person's palm) can often be managed at home; larger ones need a doctor

Full-thickness (third-degree) burn

• White, brown, black or charred skin; sometimes leathery and dry
• Little or NO pain in the center - nerve endings are destroyed (pain around the edges where the burn is partial-thickness)
• Always a hospital case; heals only with medical care, usually surgery

For a dependable reference on burn assessment and first aid, see the NHS burns and scalds page: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/burns-and-scalds/

Signs of trouble beyond the skin

• Breathing difficulty, hoarse voice, soot around nostrils or mouth: airway burn - emergency
• Burn circling a limb (circumferential): can cut off blood flow - emergency
• Chemical or electrical cause: emergency
• Burn on face, eyes, hands, feet, genitals, or over a joint: hospital
• Burn larger than the person's palm, or any deep burn: hospital
• Victim is a baby, small child, elderly person, pregnant, or has diabetes/weak immunity: lower threshold - get seen
• Infection later: increasing pain, pus, spreading redness, fever

Emergencies: call 112 / 102

Large or deep burns, airway involvement, electrical burns, unconsciousness - cool what you can (if safe and water is available) while waiting, keep the person warm otherwise, do not give food or drink (surgery may be needed).

The classical note

Sushruta graded burns by depth - Twak-dagdha (skin-level), Mamsa-dagdha (into flesh) and deeper - and matched both prognosis and treatment to the grade. Two thousand years later that is still exactly how burns are triaged: depth first, then everything else.

One-line summary

Red and painful = minor; blisters = watch the size and site; white/charred and painless = hospital; chemicals, current, face, breath or big area = 112/102.