Keep a bag of flour in your fridge ( I got this via email)....

[Little Star]

Why did we never hear of this before?! I've always just run it under the cold water tap.
Some time ago I was cooking some corn and stuck my fork in the boiling water to see if the corn was ready.
I missed and my hand went into the boiling water.
A friend of mine, who was a Vietnam vet, came into the house, just as I was screaming, and asked me if I had
some plain old flour. I pulled out a bag and he stuck my hand in it. He told me to keep my hand in the flour for
10 minutes which I did.
He said that in Vietnam , when there was a guy on fire and in their panic, they threw a bag of flour all over him
to put the fire out. Well, it not only put the fire out, but he never even had a blister!
A Long story short, I put my hand in the bag of flour for 10 minutes, pulled it out and did not even have a red mark or a blister and absolutely NO PAIN.
Now, I keep a bag of flour in the fridge and every time I burn myself (cold flour feels even better than room temperature flour), I use the flour and have never ONCE had even a red spot/burn mark, or a blister!
I even burnt my tongue once, put the flour on it for about 10 minutes. The pain was gone and no burn.
Try it. Experience a miracle! Keep a bag of flour in your fridge and you will be happy you did!
Don't run your burn area under cold water first, just put it directly into the flour for 10 minutes.

Cheaper than buying all those ointments or paying for a Dr. visit. I'd give it a try first. Can always do the other stuff later if need be, right?

[antiquie]

1. Urban Legend

Analysis: Once upon a time — a century-and-a-half ago, to be exact (see below) — dredging a minor burn with ordinary wheat flour was considered an acceptable medical treatment, even by some physicians. But so was dressing the wound with white lead paint, oily poultices, and turpentine-soaked cotton. All these treatments were discredited and abandoned as medical knowledge progressed.

Current medical sources such as the Mayo Clinic and the American Red Cross advise treating a minor (first- or second-degree) burn by immersing it in cool water, then covering it loosely with dry, sterile gauze. Scientific studies have proven these measures effective.

The purpose of running cool water over the burn is to draw heat away from the skin, reducing swelling and pain. The purpose of a sterile bandage is to minimize air flow over the wound (which can exacerbate pain) and to protect the skin should blistering occur. It stands to reason that covering burned skin with refrigerated flour might produce some of the same benefits, but it could also cause complications (if your skin begins to blister, do you really want it coated with unsterile flour?). Why take risks with an outmoded remedy?

There's no scientific reason to suppose (and certainly no peer-reviewed studies to prove) that plunging your scalded limb into a bag of cold flour will lead to a better prognosis than immersing it in cool water and applying a proper bandage.

Beware of all medical advice that arrives via forwarded email.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/medical/a/Flour-For-Burns-Home-Remedy.htm

[Little Star]

2. Thanks for that....

I just have one question about it wouldn't "cold" flour do the same as cold water?

Just a question not a disagreement. Thanks again for the link.

[antiquie]

3. I am sure you can guess

that I had already looked it up.

I think the cold flour would make it feel better, maybe the flour would stick to the burn?

Cool the burn. Hold the burned area under cool (not cold) running water for 10 or 15 minutes or until the pain subsides. If this is impractical, immerse the burn in cool water or cool it with cold compresses. Cooling the burn reduces swelling by conducting heat away from the skin. Don't put ice on the burn.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-burns/FA00022

[Little Star]

4. cool (not cold) running water yet cool it with cold compresses. Cold compresses?.......

Wouldn't compresses also possibly stick to the burn?

I was just going to delete my OP when I read your debunking but I still have questions. Besides this is a good conversation to have, don't you think?

But my bet is you may win this conversation handily. Let's let people read it, we might all learn something. Maybe frugal isn't good in all things.

[antiquie]

5. Not a contest!

I am with you looking for good first aid. One of my grandaughters was put into a medical coma to help her recover from a hot-restaurant-coffee-pot spill and all of the wrong things were done.

[Little Star]

6. I agree it's not a contest just a good conversation, imho. (hug)

[mzteris]

7. Aloe plant.

Now there's the real miracle "cure" for burns.

[Little Star]

8. How do you use it? Squeeze out the juice onto the burn?

[mzteris]

9. Yes.

Depending on the size of the burn, pinch or cut off a tip of a "leaf" and put the juice - it's more gel-like though - on the burn. You can also just split it open and lay the whole thing on there. Maybe wrap it with some gauze around it for a little bit if you want or don't have time to just "sit there" a while.

It'll burn like a bitch when you put it on - "drawing out the fire" is how southerners put it, but no blister no nothing when it's all said and done. Put it on and forget about it. It'll dry. If it still "hurts" after it's dry, you might want to put on a little more again. Don't put it in your mouth, though, that stuff is bitter as hell.

I've lots of smaller burn stories - I splashed hot grease on my hand. Coated my hand, but missed one tiny spot between my fourth and pinky finger. Nada where the aloe went. Honking blister on the spot I missed. Etc . . .

Two larger stories - my brother was working on his motorcycle. Accidentally lay his left forearm against the tailpipe. Mom used up nearly every plant in the house but - no blisters or anything.

Fifteen years later my dad - who had something of a green thumb - had grown some of the biggest damn aloe plants I've ever seen. They were like two feet across - very large long leaves. Anyway, my mother was cooking and spilled either boiling water or hot grease (I don't remember which now - that was a about twenty years ago) - dad went out, cut off a whole leaf. Split it open and wrapped it to her arm. Et voila, good as new.

It truly does work that way. This story has not been exaggerated in any way. Keep it on the windowsill in the kitchen. Don't overwater. The leaves will let you know when it needs watering because they won't be as "plump".

Of course, I kill every plant I've ever bought, so I don't have one. (Then again, I don't do much cooking anymore, either.)

The gel is sold OTC now, but I have no idea if that is as efficacious as straight from the source.

[Little Star]

10. I'm going to have to get aloe plant but I am also bad with in door plants.

[LiberalEsto]

14. I've kept an indoor aloe plant going for over 30 years

What they need is neglect.

Water only once every 10 days or so, and don't drown them. Keep out of direct sunlight - as indoor plants, they tend to get sunburned. If the plant gets too big, take off sections and plant in damp soil. Re-pot every few years.

I'm terrible with most indoor plants, but figured this out by trial and error over the years. I've given away more young aloe plants, rooted from the original plant, than I can count.

And yes, they are great on minor burns. I needed some aloe for a burn a couple of days ago and it worked like a charm.

[Little Star]

19. +1

[mzteris]

22. Even those more than minor

- probably not like 3rd degree or anything - unless htat's all you got until you get to a dr ...

Although, some of the burns (as described) were pretty severe, boiling water, hot oil, extremely hot tailpipe . .

[Little Star]

23. I can do ignore pretty good!

[mopinko]

11. this will, however, stop bleeding.

flour plus blood equals cement. ok, not really, but i had to use this once on a bleeding bird. it stopped the bleeding, and left me with a hand full of solidified blood that was damned hard to get off.

[Little Star]

12. That's good to know. Thanks

[Phentex]

13. it can sometimes put out fires...

my sister used to throw flour on pans when a fire started. Just before throwing the whole thing out on the carport floor.

Nowadays, I keep a fire extinguisher! Haven't started a fire in a while.

[Little Star]

18. lol

[Tanuki]

25. Are you sure it wasn't baking soda that she threw on the fire? It looks similar.

You should never throw flour on a fire, as flour is highly combustible, but baking soda can work in a pinch.
http://humantouchofchemistry.com/why-does-baking-soda-extinguish-fires.htm

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I always have flour set aside

whenever I clip my cat's nails, or when I had my bird, her nails. It stops the bleeding immediately. I don't know if it works on all cuts, but it was a trick I learned at the place where I purchased my macaw. But you are talking about nails here, and not skin cuts, so I am not sure it will translate into the same results. I would try this on a small cut that would probably not get infected anyways, but I would not use it for larger cuts if you want to experiment.

[Curmudgeoness]

16. I don't believe this.

I don't think that it is possible to stick your hand in boiling water, then not even have reddening of the skin. The damage has already been done the instant that the hand went into the water, and it is going to have to heal in the time that it takes to heal. Skin is living, and boiling water is going to damage it.

But I also don't see any harm in trying this.

Hi Little Star. Good to see you.

[Little Star]

17. Hey there Curmudgeoness! Good to see you my friend.....

interesting conversation in the thread though , no?

[Curmudgeoness]

20. It is probably a conversation we need to have occasionally.

I always see these emails about home remedies, and I am always skeptical. We have to talk about it so that people who believe the emails will learn to research them (and some of them are true, so it is worth the effort) before they go for it. We all have to be reminded about this.

I remember the email I got about using egg whites on burns, and it had the same claims of no redness or pain. When I researched it, I found that it was actually dangerous, especially if the burn is severe enough to have opened the skin. Eggs may contain salmonella, and if they do, you can introduce the bacteria into the burn and make it even worse.

So the bottom line on this conversation is that we have to always be vigilant, especially in this age of the internet. Everything on the internet is not fact. If you don't believe me, go to some of the right wing websites.

[IrishAyes]

21. This did not come from an email

If you can't find aloe vera juice/gel for some reason, Vitamin E gel works the same. I got a bit of sunburn once and slathered that on; never even peeled.

But the flour business sounds dangerous.

Now I did read from a credible report that science has discovered the reason the tree frog cure works for wounds. Y'know, place him belly down over the wound and tie him as gently as possible. When he quits squirming, get a fresh frog. What happens is that the tree frog perceives himself in danger and this causes him to exude a natural antibiotic from his stomach - for his own sake. The reason you have to replace him when he grows still is that he's given up and no longer exudes that antibiotic you need.

[Thor_MN]

24. Throwing flour at something on fire is a bad idea.

If it creates the right air/fuel(flour will burn) mixture it can flare or even explode.