Perhaps the most terrifying kind of injury to suffer is a burn injury. Burn injuries have a long-lasting, devastating impact on the quality of the lives of their victims.

Burn injuries are classified in two different ways:

• By degrees - how deeply they penetrate the body
• By method - what causes them

Classified by degrees

• First degree burns - which affect only the topmost skin layer, the epidermis. They look red, cause minor pain and will heal by themselves.
• Second degree burns - which affect the epidermis and damage the dermis, the layer underneath it, but do not penetrate it. They cause blistering and severe pain, especially if any nerves are involved. The skin becomes red and mottled. With adequate care they will usually heal within three weeks or so.
• Third degree burns - which affect the full thickness of the skin and cause charring, so the skin looks black and also white and dry in some areas. There is purple fluid and a raised area like a scab. They will often cause no pain because the nerve ending has been destroyed.
• Fourth degree burns - which burn the skin but also muscles and their ligaments and tendons, and perhaps even bones.

Classified by method

• Thermal - flames, steam, hot liquids and objects, and heat radiation
• Electrical - ungrounded wiring or lightning
• Chemical - strong acids or bases
• Light - intense light such as ultraviolet light and sunshine
• Radiation - nuclear sources and ultraviolet light again

There are also burns caused by extreme cold, where instead of heat entering the body to cause damage, it leaves the body and causes a similar damage. Frostbite is an example.

Burn treatment

A burn injury is overheated skin and underlying tissue. The best thing to do immediately is cool the area gently. Use cool water, but not icy water, which could worsen the injury. You could use a cool wet cloth, or running water.

Do not:

Apply anything oily. Why? Because it will seal in the heat, which is exactly what the injury doesn't need. So avoid any ointments until after the body tissue has cooled down.

Burns are extremely painful and slow to heal. A third or fourth degree burn can be life-threatening and requires hospitalization.

At the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C., we put our experience to work in documenting the long, painful, difficult recovery process to bring home to the jury or insurance company the severity of the injury you suffered. Once it comes time for trial, we can effectively present the story of your difficult recovery and the difficulties you will face in the future.

Severe burn injuries cause severe scarring and may cause permanent impairment of movement. Physical therapy can help if it is performed gently and regularly. Surgery including painful skin grating may be required.

If you have sustained a severe burn, or if a loved one has, and you wonder if it was caused by somebody's negligence, don't delay in contacting an experienced burn injury lawyer. Personal injury cases can be long and complex, since medical testimony requires experts to study the records and assess a lot of data.

So, the sooner you allow your attorney to get started on gathering information and studying the accident circumstances, the more strongly you case can be built. Contact Chicago personal injury lawyer Barry Doyle for your free legal consultation. No recovery, no fee.

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