are you talking about frostbite from cold (below water freezing temperature) gas?
or are you talking about your clothing catching on fire?
My goto medicine for burns is Foille Burn Ointment. After running cold water over the affected part - usually fingers - we all know how the pain almost immediately returns. At this stage I use the Foille (greasy, ucky stuff) and the pain instantly goes away. Maybe not on the third degree or bad second degree stuff, but for your basic I’ve been really stupid again burn which can be painful for hours, it works like a charm. It even prevents the redness from forming. Wouldn’t be without it.
Hmm, missed this one first time round. Back when I was fifteen or so, I was getting something from my Dad’s garage which was lit by one of these. Thinking the light was burning down a bit, I figured it could do with a pump. The right way to steady it while you pump is to hold that nice cool domed fuel tank at the bottom. The wrong way is to put your hand onto that metal chimney on top which is maybe three inches above a nice clean blue kerosene-vapour flame. It took a second or so to register how hot it was.
Next day, thanks to some poor first aid, I had a mass of small blisters covering about half the palm of my left hand, and over a few days they merged into one large blister. Fortunately, over time it healed up completely and, unlike one or two other acts of stupidity in my life, this one left no permanent marks.
Chemical burn, I’m thinking. Reminds me a story from my dad’s business. He had a 55 gallon drum of paint thinner with a hand pump, to refill the 5 gallon cans they used inside the shop. One of his guys is out there filling up the can and doesn’t watch what he’s doing, overfills and thinner splashes all over the front of his pants. 1 minute later he’s at the front of the shop with a garden hose stuffed down his pants.
This is stuff they got on their hands all the time without even thinking about it, hands are tougher than we appreciate sometimes.
My worst burns:
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Working in a pizza place with a deck oven. I was checking pizzas in the back of the oven, when one of the pizzas at the front started to fall off of the door. Instinctively, I grabbed the falling pan. Unfortunately, it was my un-gloved hand. For some reason, I didn’t drop the pan - I placed the whole pie on the top of the oven before running into the back and plunging my hand in the ice machine. (Yes, I tossed the ice out afterwards
) -
While camping, we were sitting around a table playing poker. I was near the propane lantern. Absentmindedly (and drunk), I decided to adjust the position of the light. I grabbed the little screw cap at the top. Easily the most painful burn I’ve ever experienced.
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I don’t remember this, but when I was 2 or 3 years old, I put my hand on a hot oven burner coil. Apparently, I didn’t scream or cry, my mom only noticed the next day that that I was walking around with my fist clenched.
You know, I’d almost forgotten about that? I am, however, always careful to stick a potholder on pan handles that come out of the oven. Have been ever since.
I have gotten plenty of burns from using a soldering iron and hot glue gun, including accidentally grabbing the barrel while it was hot, which literally fries your skin (although the burn isn’t usually that deep, but painful), as well as from solder droplets falling on my legs.
The worst was when I was removing parts from a board (held vertically on my lap) and, as often happens, solder accumulated as parts are removed; a very large droplet (~700-800F) fell off and landed on my leg leaving a burn about half an inch across; it didn’t hurt that much considering how bad it was but literally took months to heal (no, I am not a slow healer, most are gone or just pink spots in a week) - heal, not just completely go away (aggravated when I accidentally scratched it after several weeks because it itched and I scraped the thin layer of skin off, causing it to bleed a lot); I guess that was a third-degree burn, although you can’t tell where it was now after a few years.
Also, my earliest memory was when I was 5 or so and touched a hot skillet; I don’t remember how much it hurt but do remember having a big blister from it.
ETA: I also often wish that your skin was more burn-resistant, since for example, I often use a wet (so it doesn’t stick) finger to press hot glue into place, and even solder (yes, you can touch molten solder for a split second without getting burned if it isn’t full temperature, my fingertips are probably also more resistant than most peoples).
Oh yeah, I’ve had lots of those (electrical engineer and hobbiest). Little burn scars on several of my fingers. I also did that big drop one; never wear shorts when soldering!
Burn stories - I once got the world’s worst friction burn from an airbag when I crashed my car! Apparently my hand was in just the right position when the damn thing exploded. My thumb and first two fingers on my right hand were burned. The pain wasn’t terrible at first, but kept ramping up, and up, and UP on the way to the ER, that I thought I was going to go insane. The ER staff was amazed that I hadn’t broken my hand - it was so swollen that I could barely move my fingers - and they just slathered it with that burn lotion (silver oxide, maybe?) and wrapped it up for me and sent me along my merry way. Took a good couple months to heal completely, and scarred my fingertips for life.
Then, a few years ago, I managed to burn myself on the nipple with a curling iron. Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick, did that ever hurt!
An update for the Teeming Millions (I’m sure y’all have been waiting):
The blister on the knuckle of my thumb burst in just 3 days, after looking like I was gonna grow another digit. I read online that a doctor might want to cut off the skin, so I kept well away from him/her and kept it clean and the skin resealed itself. It was dark pink for a while but not that sore. After doing lots of reading online I took all of the precautions that a second-degree burn warranted.
In the shower I wore a single washing up glove (a pink marigold) which must’ve been quite a sight! Other than that I kept it dry. The scabby skin dried out and came off yesterday, leaving a patch of pink, fresh, tender skin that doesn’t look too bad.
I’m still going to take lots of care on that hand, as the blisters on my fingers have burst but the dried skin is still there on them.
I have 2 stories here
When I was 11 or 12 I was trying to make a smoothie and needed something like 2 cups of ice. With amounts that large I much preferred just reaching into the bin rather than using the dispenser. I stood on my tip toes and reached ALLLL the way to the back and felt something really fucking painful. Apparently there is a heating element in the ice maker that while it is only on for a moment or so every few hours it get’s really really hot. I still have a scar on the back of my hand.
And now for my stupid moment…
About 3 or 4 months ago I decided to stay up and deep clean the kitchen while everyone was sleeping so I could work uninterrupted. By the time I was done I had 2 hours before I had to get mudgirl up for school so I decided to just make myself some tea and toast. I put the pot of water on to boil and started my toast. Once I poured the water into my mug I put the pot back on the burner (which I had remembered to turn off) and the pot kinda tipped over, so I decided to check to see how level the burner was…
WITH MY HAND:eek: :eek: :mad: :mad: :eek:
If you were down to your last three fingers I’d have thought you’d be more careful 
Zombie thread, fair game!