Cooking For Dummies

If you're as distracted as I am while doing routine things in the kitchen, it's good to have certain drugs on hand when your lightheadedness gets you hurt.

Tonight, while draining spaghetti, tossing it up and down by shaking the colander, I, for whatever reason, reached under it to move a pot that was in the sink.

Boiling hot water splashed on the back of my hand, dammit.

Next time you visit your friendly family doctor, or, if you're like me and have a buddy who's a dermatologist, get him or her to write you a prescription for TOPICORT. It's generic now, so the cost isn't bad, and it's well worth it to have a tube of this stuff in your medicine cabinet.

I rubbed some on my hand and now, an hour later, three's not a hint of the burn, nor even a bit of pain. The stuff is great.

Just a friendly hint from an idiot........................

but cortisol in any form will stop the area from reddening.

The first thing to do with any burn is cool the area down with running water.

It will keep many burns from becoming blisters. Room temp or warm water, not so well.

I know you said "cool down with running water" but that's vague. The colder you can get it, the better.

they may kick you out of baseball

seriously, DO NOT OVERDO IT. use the .05% gel or ointment, less systemic absorption. Never use if possibilty of infection, treat with triple antibiotic first.

My muscles bulge on their own, thank you very much. :)

I take 7 mg of prednisone every day. And the skin wasn't broken, just red, a bit raised, and starting to hurt. Running cold water over the hand did absolutely nothing. Hence, my Topicort run into the bathroom.

But, thank you for your concern.

If the skin's broken, there's the fast hit of Cleocin before I scream for my doctor buddy who lives nearby.

It works for you. But other folks may get problems, is all I'm sayin'

who needed full body applications of cortisol cream. They had very few systemic effects from topical cream, but it did a pretty good job of healing their skin.

The topical stuff isn't dangerous, but it will mask the signs of infection, so don't use it on open skin. Use a triple antibiotic cream, instead.

glaucoma. it is dangerous as a cream, especially for certain genetic demographics

Can't get a worse side effect than that.

I didn't know about topicort. Learn sumpin new every day 'round here!

Managed to raise my hand into the pizza stone and had no aloe handy, so I grabbed the tube of arnica I keep for muscle aches. I really didn't expect much beyond a placebo effect, but within 15 minutes realized the searing pain was gone, as were the blister and redness. That's my kitchen first-aid kit now. Always happy when I can go herbal.

Signed,
Stinky the (Three Fingered) Clown

a good coat of hydrocortisone cream. That single hit of antiinflammatory really helps with the pain.

I burn myself all to often, but if I can get to a clean cloth and a few ice cubes, I never blister or get other damage. Of course you can't do much with a hand wrapped up like that - someone has to do the dishes... and may be sweep? and...

Aloe vera gel seems to work well for me. I've used a vinegar soak in the past, too, with some good result. But thanks for the tip. :-)