People burned by fire, hot liquid, electricity, acid or a gas cylinder blast may seem stable after first aid, but the risk of long-term complications remains. The right steps at the right time are how to prevent them, writes specialist physician Dr Masrur-ur-Rahman Abir in Samakal.

His advice is to see a burn and plastic surgery specialist first. If the prescribed treatment, whether regular dressing, medicines or surgery, is carried out correctly and on time, the chance of serious complications later falls sharply.

Specialists in physical medicine and physiotherapists are essential in rehabilitation. They prescribe regular exercises to prevent deformities of the hands, feet and joints and, where needed, splints to hold a limb in the right position.

If a burn leaves a hand, foot or finger bent, special exercises are tried first. Serious deformities need surgery, sometimes more than one operation. After surgery, instructions to keep the limb still and raised in a splint or plaster must be followed.

Keeping up the prescribed exercises is essential. Neglect them after an operation and the deformity can return. A hand or finger left bent for a long time can become permanently deformed, and surgery cannot then fully restore it.

He advises that care from the first day to full rehabilitation be overseen by a burn and plastic surgeon. Burns from cooking stoves and gas cylinders are common in villages, and timely treatment and steady exercise are what keep a burned hand able to work.

Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Source: Samakal