You were cooking dinner when, all of a sudden, you tripped. Where did part of your hand land when you fell? It landed on the stove eye, of course. Great, now you have a burn. While getting a burn is never fun, there are wound care products out there that can make it a lot easier.

Before you start caring for your burn, you need know what kind it is so that you’ll know how to care for it. If only the outer layer of your skin is burned, you have a first degree burn. With this type of burn, your skin will be red and it might hurt just a little. However, if your skin has been burned down to the second layer, you are seeing blisters, and your hand hurts, then you probably have a second degree burn.

Since your burn is not really that big and it only occurred on part of your hand, you probably won’t need to visit the emergency room or call your doctor. Remember those wound care products that we talked about earlier? Go ahead and get those out of the first-aid kit because you are going to need to use them.

The first thing you’re going to need to do is cool your burn off. Although it is tempting, do not under any circumstances put ice on your burn. It will not help your burn; it will only make matters worse. Don’t use cold water, but rather use cool water. Keep your burn under the stream of cool water until it stops hurting. Keeping your burn cool will ensure that you are able to reduce the swelling.

Here is where your wound care products will come in handy. Cover your burn with a gauze bandage.  Make sure that the gauze that you’re using isn’t the kind that leaves loose material behind. You don’t want to get any sort of lint or other materials around the wound. Don’t pull the gauze tight because the last thing you need is to put any pressure on your burn.

Great! Now that you have your burn covered with gauze, no air will be able to get to it, and it may even feel a little better. Next, take a pain-reliever. A part of any good first-aid kit is some sort of pain reliever, such as Tylenol or Advil. Avoid using your hand and let it rest.