boiling water

[dragonstar57]

i accidentally spilled (very) hot water on my hand when attempting to strain noodles for pasta it hurt for a couple of seconds but it doesn't hurt now. will there be a burn there?

or is it like where people can touch fire and not be burned if as long as they are moving fast enough?

[Mr Skeptic]

Generally for burns you want to cool the area as quickly as possible, since the residual heat could continue to cause damage. Too late for that now, of course.

 

Odds are your hand might hurt more later. If there was any damage there will be an inflammatory response which causes swelling and pain. You'll have to wait and see.

[CaptainPanic]

First of all, I am not a doctor, and the wise thing right now would be to go see a doctor.

 

I read that:

It’s not always easy to spot a deep burn, because they don’t hurt. That’s because the

nerves that carry pain are damaged. A deep burn is more likely if you’ve been burnt by

something very hot, for example pressing a hand against an iron or immersing part of

the body in boiling water. Deep burns are often white and the skin looks waxy. (source, pdf)

 

So, the fact that it doesn't hurt might mean that it's actually a deep burn.

[dragonstar57]

Almost 24 hours later and still no mark or pain.

And it was a fast moving pour, the water was only in contact with my hand for like half a second.

Is it possible that water didn't have enough time to conduct enough heat into my hand to cause a burn?

 

 

 

*edit*:punctuation

Edited January 28, 2011 by dragonstar57

[Mr Skeptic]

Yup. You can touch hot objects very briefly without getting burned.

 

Any inflammation or blistering would have happened by now, so you should be fine.