General information only, not medical, legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified professional.
Cool a burn under running water for 20 minutes
In one line
Run cool water over a burn for 20 minutes. Not ice. Don’t put on toothpaste, soy sauce, oil, or flour.
What it costs
Free. It takes 20 minutes.
What you get
In a cohort of 2,495 children with burns, 20 minutes of cool running water within 3 hours was linked to about 60% of the skin-graft rate of those who were not cooled that way.
How strong the evidence is
Source
Griffin BR et al. (2020). Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Watch-outs
This is a cohort study. Ice can make the injury worse. Don’t peel off stuck clothing. After cooling, cover with a clean cloth and get care. The book says cooling still helps if you start within 3 hours.
Adapted from HowToLiveBetter item 13-14.
Next habitRelated
Best valueBuckle up, front seat and back
Wearing a seat belt in the front seat cuts the risk of dying in a crash by more than 40%. The back seat counts too.
Face droops, one arm fails, speech slurs. Call now
Ask for a smile, both arms up, and a short sentence. If any of that fails, call 119 in Japan or 911 in the U.S. Don’t drive them yourself.
If they can’t speak, alternate back blows and thrusts
If someone over 1 year old cannot cough or speak, give 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts from behind. If they collapse, start CPR. Don’t fish in the mouth for something you can’t see.