Home Remedies for Burns

Home care applies ONLY to small, superficial burns - red skin or a small blister, smaller than the palm, not on face, hands, genitals or joints. Everything else goes to a doctor. Within that boundary, here is what genuinely helps - and the myths that genuinely harm.

First aid: the only correct sequence

1. Cool running water over the burn for 20 minutes - tap water, as soon as possible. Not ice, not iced water: plain cool running water
2. Remove rings, watches, tight clothing near the burn BEFORE swelling - never pull off anything stuck to the burn
3. Cover loosely: clean cling film applied lengthways (not wrapped tight), or a clean plastic bag for a hand, or a clean damp cloth
4. Keep the person warm otherwise - cool the burn, not the body
5. Paracetamol for pain

The myth list - what NOT to put on a burn

• No ghee, butter or oil: they trap heat and invite infection - the most persistent Indian kitchen myth, and the opposite of first aid
• No toothpaste, no raw potato, no ink, no mehndi, no egg white, no mud, no turmeric paste on a fresh burn
• No ice directly on skin: it deepens the injury
• No cotton wool or fluffy cloth: fibers stick to the wound
• Do not burst blisters: the blister roof is nature's sterile dressing

Healing-phase home care (after first aid, minor burns only)

• Keep it clean and covered: change dressings with washed hands; air exposure once a thin dry layer forms
• Aloe vera: pulp from a fresh leaf on a SUPERFICIAL burn (sunburn-grade redness) soothes - reasonable evidence, minor burns only
• Honey: medical-grade honey dressings have evidence in minor burns; kitchen honey is not sterile - if you use honey, use a pharmacy honey dressing
• Classical healing applications: Shatadhauta ghrita (hundred-washed ghee) or Jatyadi taila on a settled, minor burn - the classical healing-phase layer, after cooling, never instead of it
• Moisturize the new skin; sun-protect it for a year

When home care stops

Pus, fever, spreading redness, worsening pain, a burn not healing in two weeks, or any doubt about depth - see a doctor. Children, diabetics and the elderly: be quicker to go.

One-line summary

Cool running water 20 minutes, clean cover, no ghee-no-toothpaste-no-ice, blisters intact - that is the entire first aid; everything else is healing-phase comfort for minor burns only.