Anyone Know How To Treat An Acid Burn ?

[not2sharp]

And quit using drano, get a snake or call a plumber and get it fixed right.

Drano is dangerous and it doesn't do your drainage any good. Get a plumber, or use a degreeser, it is much safer and much more effective.

n2s

 

[java]

Also to be considered, you may have developed an allergic reaction to one of the ingredients. It happens with some chemicals and its accumulative.

Ortho is 100% on the money...:thumbup: So if I were you and i'm not I would avoid that drain cleaner at all cost's. Your next reaction could be more severe than this one. At the very least wear rubber gloves and eye protection. Also baking soda can neutralize most acid's. I would keep some handy acids do most of their destructive work on skin very very rapidly so neutralizing quickly is key. I know this first hand after working in a shop that uses many acids for printed circuit board manufacturing and have the scar's to prove it.

Drano is alkaline as is baking soda - not good here.

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) reacts fairly actively with acids and most acid - alkali reactions are thermogenic. Starting another reaction on exposed skin is not a generally accepted method of treatment unless you're slapping calcium glutamate on an HF exposure (after the obligatory 15-20 minutes under cool running water of course).
Home Health Care - Chemical Burns

Do not try to neutralize a chemical. For example, putting an alkali chemical onto skin that has been exposed to an acid will often produce a large amount of heat and may increase the burning.

Sodium bicarb IS a common component of agents for neutralizing acid spills and it also produces CO2 gas as a product of the reaction so ventilation is recommended. Neither Merck nor Flint-Cain's Emergency Treatment and Management recommend sodium bicarb as a course of treatment for acid surface burns so I would hesitate to use this manner of treatment and caution quite strongly against using it for treating an alkali (Drano) burn. It's a bit late but initial treatment for both acid and alkali burns is flushing with cold/cool running water for 15 minutes as SO has done.

And for Pete's sake don't mix it with your cocaine - crack kills!!!

As to the delayed reaction:

SC Johnson lists the MSDS for their different formulae Drano here:

SC Johnson - Drano

I didn't see any entries for delayed hypersensitivity or allergic reaction so assuming you have a contact burn you have already thoroughly cleaned and debrided, a good topical cream such as Silvadene 1% is recommended. This is used to treat 2nd and 3rd degree burns and contains a bacteriacide to help prevent infections. I don't know if you can find Silvadene as an over-the-counter drug. I carry it as part of my EMT kit and can generally pick it up during rounds at the emergency room. If you need a script, you should be able to talk a Dr or ER into writing one without much cost - or check some of the on-line pharmacies for availability. If you know any ER Techs or EMTs they may be able to spring a small tube loose. Before you use it though make sure you don't have any kidney or liver problems.

Mederma is an ointment you can use for scar treatment once the skin heals. I do not have much experience using it so I can't personally vouch for its efficacy. Other home remedies I've heard include aloe lotions or vitamin E applied to the scar. Hope this helps........






N2S is spot on regarding Drano's effects on modern plumbing. Most new homes use the PVC/plastic lines and Drano - especially the crystals - produces heat, is corrosive, and just does not react well with them. It's plungers, snakes, or plumbers for your pipes sake.

 

[preachtokill1032]

Well my skin was healing well. I was using Neosporin to keep it from getting infected and from scarring. While there appears to be no infection, what appears to be a horrific scar is forming, and not one of those scars where its a little white around the area (that usually fades and blends in with the rest of the skin in like a year, ive had plenty of those over the years), I mean like one of those scars where the skin is raised and kind of thicker and harder than the surrounding skin, almost exactly what Mongo-Man had said. It's at a point where it's not open and stuff but not completely healed either. The rest of the area is a little pink but smooth and not too bad looking, but this small section is really worrying me, though. Scarring is inevitable, just want to keep it to a minimum. Hope everything turns out ok.




Andrew