Information about Skin Burns

What is a burn?
What is the difference between first, second and third degree burns?
What is skin grafting?

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What is a burn?

A burn always means damage of the skin, no matter what caused it. Burns are not only caused by heat. Burns can be thermal (caused by extreme heat or extreme cold), steam, electrical, inhalation, radiant (like sunburn) or chemical (caused by chemical acids). In order to qualify the degree and the proper treatment it is important to determine the depth of the damage.

What is the difference between a first, second and third degree burn?

Burns are usually classified into three degrees. First degree, second degree and third degree burns.

In general, the degree describes how deep the actual wound is.

First Degree
First degree burns are rather superficial and only affect the top layer of the skin, the epidermis. Usually first degree burns can already cause blistering. Sunburn for example is the classic first degree burn.

Second Degree
Second degree burns are more serious. They affect the deeper layers of the skin, like the dermis, where many nerve endings, as well as the sweat glands are located. However they can still be treated at home in most cases.

A first or second degree burn can usually heal faster and easier because new skin can grow from the dermis.

Third Degree
The deepest layer of the skin is the fat layer that includes the actual nerves and blood vessels. If the epidermis and dermis are fully affected by the burn, the burn is usually referred to as third degree burn. Since the dermis is destroyed skin cannot grow back. That is extending the healing process and making it complicated. A third degree burn can even involve muscles or bones. It can cause deep open wounds with blackened tissue.

However, doctors will rather describe a burn with the terms partial thickness or full thickness. Partial burns do not affect the complete dermis whereas full thickness wounds do.

A full thickness burn (third degree or severe second degree) always needs to be treated by a doctor, no matter how small it might seem to you. You could risk scarring and wound infection if you try to treat the wound on your own.

A different way of classifying burns is minor , moderate, and major burns. These classifications depend on the percentage and areas of skin burned.

A burn covering more surface than two fists as well as a burn in the face, hands, necks, genital area or feet is considered major and needs to be seen by a doctor. Also any child under the age of 12 that gets burned should be seen by a doctor.

What is Skin Grafting?

Skin grafting (often called skin transplanting) means surgically removing (shaving) healthy skin from one part of your body in order to apply it to another part of the body where skin is missing. That is often the case after burns that destroyed the dermis so that no new skin can grow on the affected area, leaving an open wound. An open wound would take much longer to heal and could cause complications like bacterial infections; therefore many doctors recommend skin grafting. The transplanted healthy skin is stitched to the new area where it usually attaches itself to the cells in the wound. Gradually the skin transplant grows together with the other skin cells, closing the wound. 

Scarring is unavoidable when performing a skin graft. The size of the scar depends on the size of the wound. Skin grafting always involves two scars, the scar of the actual wound and the scar that is caused when shaving off the healthy skin.