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Scalding
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
In what respects does scalding harm you? (I'm talking about boiling water here.)
I recently saw a film in which someone murdered someone by pouring a huge container of boiling water over the victim. Can someone explain to me how it works though? I understand how getting into say a giant container of boiling water and staying in it to boil would work since the proteins of the organs would become denatured but how does a quicker exposure kill? I understand why the skin is damaged but not why you die.
Also does anyone know the effects of non-fatal scalding? Are there any long term ones? Can hot water scar? Or do anything else?
I recently saw a film in which someone murdered someone by pouring a huge container of boiling water over the victim. Can someone explain to me how it works though? I understand how getting into say a giant container of boiling water and staying in it to boil would work since the proteins of the organs would become denatured but how does a quicker exposure kill? I understand why the skin is damaged but not why you die.
Also does anyone know the effects of non-fatal scalding? Are there any long term ones? Can hot water scar? Or do anything else?
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The thermodynamic principles of heat transfer? If you were to hold your hand over a boiling kettle then the steam would lose some it's heat energy, cool and condense to water - 99degC water. The heat energy would transfer to your tissues.
Erm as for why does it do so much damage? Educated guess here: The damage doesn't stop at the surface as the heat dissipates damaging deeper layers of the tissues, organs - would imagine that the peripheral circulatory system (and blood) would be the first affected as burns victims have poor thermoregulatory control and are prone to infections. Don't know how much or for how long boiling water would poach someone.
...with regards to long term effects of hot water scalds, when i was six i was scolded with a kettle of boiling water, down my chest and my abdomen. It has healed really well, so much so that it is not that noticeable. The areas of scarring just have a lighter, shiny look compared to the rest of my skin. I can see it cos i know it's there, but my boyfriend says he cant really see it. It only really becomes noticeable when i get a tan cos it just becomes red instead of brown, and it's the same shape as the map of Italy!
Generally this constriction happens after the initial burn as everything swells, due to the trauma, constricting blood flow to the effected area...when this happens the doctors make slits in the skin to prevent the constriction. It can happen during healing as well though, as sometimes the scar tissue can become tight. However this is more of a problem when the burn occurs on a limb, as the contracted scar can cause reduced mobility...again the doctors make small slits to release the pressure.
Luckily you are realistically highly unlikely to die of suffocation due to this as any constriction will develop over the many months it would take for the chest to produce scar tissue...wouldn't happen suddenly :no:
Too true...on the up side though, children also heal really well...scars become less noticeable as they grow too. As i said earlier i had a full kettle of boiling water down my chest and stomach when i was 6...and the scar has been relatively unnoticeable for many years now...it healed better then it probably would have if i had done it as a adult :yes:
I saw this programme where a wee girl was scalded almost head to toe and her parents put her under a freezing cold shower for about 20 minutes, a few months down the line.... not a mark. The programme makers compared this to a another wee girl, who was scalded less seriously and because she wasn't put in cold water, was scarred for life.
They took my dress off straight away and wrapped me towels soaked in cold water...then took me straight to A&E.
Doctors are now saying though that lukewarm water is better to treat burns...i suppose it is because cold water causes constriction of blood vessels on the surface of skin, reducing blood flow to the burn...whereas warm water does the opposite.
It would be interesting to know the medical opinion of the doctors involved in that case to see if they felt that it was solely the lack of being treated with cold water that caused the greater scarring...as i suspect there probably were other reasons as well...sounds like an interesting programme though