How to Medicate a Burn on the Skin

A burn is a heat injury that most commonly affects the skin. When something with a high temperature comes into contact with the skin, it's temperature rises, which leads to tissue cell death. Burns can be extremely painful and damaging to the body. Serious burns need to be treated at the hospital. You can treat minor burns at home with topical medication and gauze dressing.

Things You'll Need

• Fluffed dry gauze
• No-stick sterile gauze
• Elastic gauze
• Triple antibiotic ointment

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Instructions

• 1

  Clean the burn with mild soap and cold water. Use a soft washcloth. Do not rub or scrub at the burn. Pat the burn dry when you are done. Topical medications work more effectively on clean, dry skin.

• 2

  Apply a light layer of triple antibiotic ointment to the burn. Wash your hands immediately before applying the ointment. Put the ointment on your finger. Use your finger to lightly spread the ointment across the burn. The ointment should evenly cover the entire burn.

• 3

  Place a no-stick sterile gauze on top of the burn. Cover the burn and 1/4 inch of the skin around the burn in every direction.

• 4

  Cover the sterile gauze with a piece of fluffed dry gauze. The fluffed gauze should be the same size as the no-stick sterile gauze.

• 5

  Loosely wrap elastic gauze around the burn site to hold the dressings in place. Start at the farthest part of the body and wrap towards it. For example, if you have a burn on your leg, start wrapping at the ankle and wrap towards your hip. Let the elastic gauze cover the entire dressing and an inch of skin on either side of it, then let it overlap 1/2 inch.