| 5 star (174) | 96% | |
| 4 star (3) | 2% | |
| 3 star (1) | 1% | |
| 1 star (4) | 2% |
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023: 
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015: 
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014: 
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
| 5 star (174) | 96% | |
| 4 star (3) | 2% | |
| 3 star (1) | 1% | |
| 1 star (4) | 2% |
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023:
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015:
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014:
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023:
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015:
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014:
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
| 5 star (174) | 96% | |
| 4 star (3) | 2% | |
| 3 star (1) | 1% | |
| 1 star (4) | 2% |
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023:
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015:
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014:
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023:
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015:
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014:
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
Jane (Pawleys Island, SC) on 11/09/2023:
I am so thankful for this site.
Sara (CO) on 11/07/2023:
Melissa (Albuquerque ) on 02/20/2022:
Lindylou (Manchester Uk) on 09/28/2020:
AS (London) on 04/14/2020:
Thank you brilliant Earthclinic! I'm so grateful.
Marilyn (Canada) on 04/22/2019:
Thanks so much for the tip.
Tealover (Henderson, Nv) on 08/28/2018:
Marta (Salt Lake City) on 06/08/2018:
Juliet (California) on 06/04/2017:
PS - When I replaced the Robot Hand Foil contraption for the foil bandage, the burn let me know it was still active. However, it only took minutes for the pain to be completely gone again after I applied the foil bandage and left it on. Just leave the foil on!
Deirdre (Atlanta ) on 11/09/2015:
Better But With Side Effects
I got a 2nd degree burn last Thursday when I transferred boiling soup to my very powerful Vitamixer blender and turned it on, not realizing it was set to high and it blasted me all over with the soup I had just taken off the stove. I didn't realize the setting had been left on high when it was stored (definite design flaw). I was covered with clothing thankfully, except for my left sleeve, which I had just rolled up, so that was the only part exposed. My left hand had been holding down the lid and the liquid exploded through the sides of the lid when I turned it on and it hit hard under my arm.These professional blenders are very powerful and because of that, very dangerous.
I immediately covered my entire arm below the elbow with aluminum foil, shiny side in. It took away the pain in about a minute and I left the tin foil on all night. Because there was no pain, I didn't realize I had a 2nd degree burn and didn't bother to look at my skin. The next morning I had 2 blisters. One of them kept growing and growing and then burst when I removed the bandage. Sorry, gross, uggh. I have never had a burn this bad. Now I know that if you have a 2nd degree burn blister, work very hard so that it does not burst!! It makes it sooooo much worse!
I went to the pharmacy and decided to buy silver gel for the burn with non-stick pads (petroleum emulsion) and 2 additional gauze pads on top of that. I am changing the bandages twice a day and the wound is not getting infected, but it's taking a long time to heal, especially the huge blister that burst. No new skin is growing... it's very raw and incredibly painful when I change the bandage. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I am now on day 4. The pharmacy carried 2 brands of manuka honey bandaids for a hefty price, so I opted to go for a tube of silver. Is it too late to apply manuka honey?
At any rate, please be careful with the aluminum foil.. it's so great taking away pain, you may not realize you have a 2nd degree burn!
Dustin (New York) on 09/30/2015:
My suggestion is to put the burn on cool running water for 30+ minutes and then wrap it in Aluminum Foil and place it on an ice pack until the ice pack gets warm. Then continue to leave the Aluminum Foil on it for a 5-6 hours.
Here is my story:
-------------------
I touched a scorching hot pan with my thumb. I ran it under cool water for about an hour and a half, while under the water it felt fine, there was a little discomfort but no pain. But when I removed my thumb from the water within 10 seconds it was back to the most unbearable excruciating pain, even hours later. I grabbed a cloth with cool water and using that I could be away from the water for 2-3 minutes at a time and during that time I did a little googling.
The first couple of sites all had the same suggestions of expensive creams that I didn't have laying around, Alo which I also had none of. They also suggested rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer with high alcohol content, I tried this and it only relieved the pain until it all evaporated (~1 minute). I also tried to tooth paste which had the same effect as alcohol, about 1 minute of relief then the pain resumed. Those sites also mentioned the Aluminum Foil suggestion which I though was a joke and no one seemed to speak too highly of it just a few mentions so it must be a joke right?
Then I came to this site, and of course all the same suggestions were made but people seemed to speak fairly highly of the Aluminum Foil. I thought what they heck it can't make it any worse.
I cooled my hand the best I could with cool water, quickly dried it off and wrapped it in Aluminum Foil. For the first minute nothing appeared to happen, and it was starting to hurt again. I was just about to take the foil off and stick my hand into the running water again when the pain slowly started to get better, so I decided to leave it on for a minute longer.
Slowly over the next few minutes it got better and better until it felt about the same pain level as leaving it under the water. I then decided to touch my thumb with the Aluminum foil around it against an ice pack. That was 100% instant pain relief. Sometimes the pack got too cold and it would begin to get uncomfortable so id remove the pack for a 30 seconds or so and then put my thumb back on it. I continued this pattern for an hour or so until I fell asleep. During the night I woke up from the fire sirens (I live next to a fire station) and I noticed that the ice pack was completely warm but I had no pain. I tossed the ice pack aside and just left the foil on and went back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and felt almost no pain. I unwrapped the foil and found that it was there was a small patch of leathery white (dead) skin but it was painless. I am assuming over the next few days that skin will just naturally peal off and everything will be fine. I currently feel no pain except when I forget and grab something with that thumb. I currently am leaving the foil on not as a pain reliever but just as a reminder not to grab anything.
----------
While my Bachelors is in Computer Science I also have an Associates in Physics so I will now do my best to "GUESS" why this works. I have done 0 experiments or studies or measuring of any kind so this is purely a hypothesis, that may be 100% wrong but here is what I think causes the pain relief...
In physics there is no such thing as "cold" only different amounts of heat, cold is just low heat. Heat likes to travel from an area of high heat to areas of low heat. This is restricted by the thermal conductivity of the mediums (material between the high heat and the low heat). Thermal conductivity refers to a materials ability to transfer heat quickly. Something like water has a high thermal conductivity. So when it is hot it feels very hot because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred to your skin and when it is cold it feels very cold because the heat is very quickly and easily transferred from your skin to the water.
The first half an hour of running water will remove all the heat from the burn caused by the burn. Then after that even your own body's heat is enough to cause pain on the burn. The Aluminum foil acts as a radiator wrapped around your finger removing your own bodies heat from that finger and releasing it into the air. Also if you use an ice pack that also sucks the heat from the foil quickly allowing the foil to then remove the heat from your finger quickly.
When I feel Aluminum Foil not attached to my body it feels cool to the touch. This is because it is removing the heat from my fingers. Then as I wrap it around my finger it becomes warm when I touch it with other fingers, it actually feels almost the same temperature as my skin, this is because most of the heat my finger (wrapped inside the foil) is being transferred to the foil and the foil now does not have the ability to absorb any more heat from the finger I am "touching" it with.
In hindsight, next time I may make a more elaborate Aluminum Foil "glove" with many thin strips of foil forming "fins" like a radiator (or heatsink, google it to see what a heatsink looks like). This will expel the heat from the foil into the air more easily. Air needs to be able to pass through the fins so don't wrap it in cloth or anything, better yet put it in front of a fan.
Good luck and I hope you feel better.
Savannahj (Detroit, Mi ) on 08/13/2015:
Sona (Florida ) on 07/05/2015:
But anyways, to impress my younger brother and mother, I went brought out some of those snake like fireworks, where you light one and it starts to grow? But anyways... It was windy, so the only way to actually light the silly things, I had to use a sparkler... Not a good idea by the way...
But I lit it up too close to my hands and it was able to turn the thumb, and index finger pure white on my right hand, flipping out from pain and the fact I could've lost my hand I quickly went back inside and washed the white powder off, only to see that I burned my whole index finger.. Now standing in the kitchen with nothing but ice and water, I ran my hands under the water, it felt fine. but as soon as I pulled it out it started to burn again, so gritting my teeth I went back to my room, and started to google Burn/Fire Cures... and I found this website.
At first I tried the usual water, ice, and the egg white.. they would work if it was touching the burn and stuff, but once I took it away from my hand, the horrible pain came back, so when I found the Aluminum Foil, I thought it was the silliest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. I didn't want to have to walk around, looking like a cyborg. But I remembered I had agreed to a date on Monday night and I didn't want to look stupid trying to hold his hand with my less dominant hand...
So I tried it and my goodness, you are a life saver! I walked around with my index finger, and thumb wrapped in Aluminum Foil, and at first I felt stupid because my mother, brother, and my mother's boyfriend, kept calling me a dork and whatever, and within 15 minutes it worked, And I was so happy! I left it on for the rest of the holiday, and I watched fireworks and whatnot.
And today on the 5th of July, my little burn doesn't hurt any longer, and tomorrow night my date will go fine! Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing this little secret, I was so scared that I would be in pain all night last night, and I wasn't, thanks again!
Miranda (Philadelphia ) on 06/29/2015:
Courtney (Talbott, Tn) on 06/04/2015:
Rache (Fl, US) on 03/30/2015:
I grabbed a pan handle with my bare hand after taking it out of the 300 degree oven. I put it down quickly, but my fingertips and palm were already red and starting to swell. After running cool water over my hand for 10 minutes, my fingertips had begun to blister with ugly little bubbles over my fingerprints. I slathered raw organic honey on the burns, let it sit for 10 minutes, rinsed it off, then did the same with organic virgin coconut oil. The burn looked less red but the blisters were still there. I saw all the positive reviews of aluminum foil. It sounded stupid, but I decided to try it. I've had a foil "glove" on for about two hours. The pain has been very mild and lessening. I peeked under the foil a few minutes ago and the blisters are gone! This is awesome! I've experienced kitchen burns before and they ALWAYS looked and felt worse as the hours passed. I can't believe this has worked so quickly to help the burns look and feel better. I showed my husband and he could barely tell where the burns were. The burns are still tender and sting if I grip something, but no biggie. I'm keeping the glove on! Joy (Nc) on 03/08/2015:
I stumbled here.
Aluminum Foil - Huh?? Well, I was desperate! I had my hubby help me make a "glove" out of aluminum foil, shinny side down. I placed my hand on the ice pack for about 10-15 more minutes. The pain started subsiding after about 10 minutes...not gone, but bearable! I slept for part of the night with the foil glove on until I got up when my youngest Lab had to go out. I took it off at that point and went back to sleep without a thought...This morning...NO blisters, 3 tiny spots of redness, and a slight sting when I forget and try and lift something or grip with that hand. I mean, it hurt SO bad and looked awful...we almost went to the ER last night....I stand amazed!!!! And no doctor's bills or creams, ointments, etc!!
This website is now bookmarked!!!
Howard (Toms River, Nj) on 02/17/2015:
My mom swears that I soon stopped crying and I know I don't have any burn marks from the scalding.
Ncrules (North Carolina, US) on 02/08/2015:
When I found this remedy I was at my wits end. I had taken a bowl out of the microwave and the steam from it hit the top of my hand. I have never felt such excreciating pain.
I tried putting my hand in cold water but every time I took it out the pain would be back. I also tried neosporin but that didn't work either.
When I saw the idea of aluminum foil I really did think it was crazy. But I decided to try it after reading all of the positive responses. I would say that it does really hurt for the first few minutes. But I stuck it out and after about 20 minutes...it felt much better. I started at about 9pm and by 10pm the pain is pretty much gone. My fingers are still a bit red and if I do feel a bit of soreness if I touch my fingers. But I am AMAZED at how much better I feel. I am also relieved since that pain was unlike any other pain I have EVER felt.
I highly recommend trying it.
Amy (California, US) on 02/01/2015:
Debby B (Australia) on 01/03/2015:
Softball_429 (Home) on 12/22/2014:
Jimmy O. (New York, NY) on 12/12/2014:
Christina (Connecticut, US) on 11/17/2014:
Paula (Ohio, US) on 11/10/2014:
Bc (India) on 11/02/2014:
I scalded my whole thigh with a pan of boiling water (my dress got caught on the cooker as I was taking the pan to the sink and I got jerked back - ouch! ) - I put it under running cold water for nearly an hour and was in too much pain when I tried to take it out, so I googled and came across this.
I have no aloe vera, so I just went for the foil. Yes it hurt tons for the first five minutes but that subsided and it just felt better and better. The redness has gone down loads after two hours now, as has the pain. I was completey sceptical, but figured I had nothing to lose. So glad I know this works now. (Please always do the cold running water for 20-30 mins part first as that is medically-proven to be efficacious and don't use ice as that can damage skin).
Catherine (Glasgow, Scotland) on 10/31/2014:
Dawn (London Uk) on 10/26/2014:
Pfletch (Boulder, CO) on 09/08/2014:
Lindsey (Alabama, US) on 09/04/2014:
I dumped boiling water on my hand and man did it hurt! I tried the toothpaste method (NEVER AGAIN! ), then I went through about 6 sandwich bags of ice, and then I decided to try the tin foil method.
The moment I wrapped my hand in foil (shiny side out), I felt IMMEDIATE relief. My hand got warm but it wasn't uncomfortable. I couldn't believe it. Tin foil? Really?
It's amazing. I slept with it on my hand all night and by morning the pain was gone. My hand was still red, but not hurting.
I definitely recommend the tin foil method to anyone with a minor burn like mine.
