Water Quenches Fire

Note the white blistered area...and disregard the blackened areas!
(They are just grime that has attached to the remaining bandaid adhesive
that I hadn't cleaned off yet!)

A couple days ago the Treasure was running around

barefoot outside as she usually does

when she spied a cast iron pan lying on the ground beside the compost pile...

and being a kinesthetic-learning-style-kid

(or, more likely, just being a typical kid who acts before thinking)

she put her foot on it "just because."

What she didn't know or anticipate

was that the-Man had recently had it in the fire to season it

and had just removed it to let it cool

and then gone on about his other business.

I was working indoors when she came in

and very nonchalantly said,

"Momma, I stepped on something hot and burned my foot."

There were no tears, no drama.

(Maybe that should have been my first clue!)

I asked what happened and got a rather vague response...

so I told her to go wash her foot and soak it in some cold water for a while.

She washed her foot in the tub and

a few minutes later I heard her go back outside...

I thought very little of it...

but then about three minutes after that she came back inside crying

and telling me how much her foot hurt.

I took a good look at it, 

saw that it was a second degree burn with blisters still intact,

 and told her to go put it back in the cold water,

which she did with much crying and drama.

While she was soaking it in the tub of cold water

(which was very dirty from the previous foot washing)

I ran a 5 gallon bucket of cold water

and put it beside her chair at the kitchen table

and quickly found a crafty activity for her to do...

I had her come in to the kitchen and sit with her foot in the bucket

for an hour...with much wailing and gnashing of teeth on her part...

but with my promise that at the end of the hour she would feel much better.

About 20-30 minutes into the hour,

the tears dried up and she was enjoying her crafting

(it helped that a friend came to visit in the meantime!)

and by the time the hour was up

she was pain-free and ready to go outside again and play.

I put some burn cream on the blisters just for good measure

and covered it with a heavy-duty and very large and sticky bandaid,

promised her "consequences" if she didn't

wear some sort of shoes for the rest of the day

and sent her off to play.

No complaints.

Next day she was running around everywhere barefoot

(big, sticky bandaid still in place)

and still no complaints.....

***********************************

I share this because, once again, I am awed

at the healing power of simple pure water!

Soaking a second-degree burn in cold water for 1-2 hours,

(do NOT use ice!)

until the aching, burning pain has completely gone away,

is the most effective remedy, natural or otherwise, I've found.

I've had an occasional accidental burn myself,

and I consistently have success with the cold water treatment,

whereas the ones I've chosen a different treatment method

remain painful for quite some time.

**********************

Now, I believe preventing burns is quite prudent...

and some may criticize my "mothering abilities"

because I allow my child to run around outside our home with bare feet...

but I'm comfortable with my choices.

If we try to prevent every bad thing from happening

I believe we can create very neurotic children who are afraid of everything...

and where's the fun in living that way?

I was a country kid who detested wearing shoes

and kicked them off at every opportunity...

but I soon learned that I needed them in certain places

to prevent pokes from stickers and such...

and I'm whole-heartedly grateful that my parents

let me spend so much time with my bare feet firmly connected to the bare earth...

it is an amazing, wonderful part of childhood,

and truly, I pity children whose feet fester in hot sweaty shoes year-round,

who never know what a stubbed toe is, or a splinter...

yet they never get to experience the texture of sand between their toes,

or the tickle of grass on their soles,

or the exhiliration of simply squishing in a huge mud hole...

I believe much is to be learned through the senses of our feet...

and one very important lesson my daughter has learned

is a very effective way to treat second-degree burns

to herself or others when she encounters this kind of situation again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an after~thought I'd like to recommend

three resources for further education and enjoyment:

-1-

Comfort for the Burned and Wounded

by John W. Keim $11.95+sh

-2-

Burn Aid by John W. Keim

(Written for the Amish by the Amish)

I purchased this book for $4.95 at an Amish seed store...

You can get more information on acquiring this book from:

The School of Self-Applied Prevention

PO Box 269

Middleburg, OH 43319

-3-

The New Concept in Treating Burns

$2.00 from

 Plain Interests Research

420 Weaver Road

Millersburg, PA 17061

(I purchased this from an Amish community as well...)

Happy Reading!