BURNS AND SCALDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 February 1921, Page 11

BURNS AND SCALDS.

WONDERFUL PAINLESS CURE. FROM WAR EXPERIENCE. During the war some of the severest injuries received were burns from shellbursts, high explosives, and liquid fire, and these were so serious as at the best to leave dreadful disfigurement even if a cure was effected. The discovery of a French doctor —Dr. Barthe de Sandfort—revolutionised treatment of burns, scalds, and similar injuries, and not only relieved the patient of most of the pain, but also prevented disfigurement. Hundreds of cases were treated at St. Nicholas’ Hospital, Paris, and cures effected throughout. Some poor fellows were brought in so badly burned as to be hardly recognisable as human beings; yet after a few weeks’ treatment they were up and about again, with hardly a mark to show what they had gone through. The secret of the treatment was a preparation of paraffin, wax, and resin—called “Amberine” by the inventor, Dr. Barthe. lhe method of use is described by a writer in the American World's Work from a case actually witnessed. “A young soldier with his hands and forearms bundled up was brought in. The nurse removed the bandages and the burned akin, and washed the place wjth a small rubber hose, and dried the flesh with an electric hot-air drier. Then she brought an atomiser frlled with a hot liquid. This she sponged carefully over the hand and forearm, so that they were soon entirely covered with a soft, white, waxlike covering. Strips of thin cotton batting were laid on the wax while it was still hot, and painted with the same liquid until the whole wound was sealed. Then it was wrapped again in cotton. ... I saw the hands a week later, and they were covered with new, supple skin . . The liquid which does the work is a combination of paraffin and resin, which makes an airtight covering over the burn and, at’ the same time, soothes the wound and allays the pain.” The treatment has been so successful, even in the severest cases, that the tramways department of the city council, whose employees not infrequently, in the power station especially, get burned by electrical dischargee, has imported a complete outfit for the treatment of cases as expeditiously as possible, for it is well known that the sooner a burn can be attended to, the better. The “Amberine” itself is a semitransparent, waxy substance put up in large blocks. *A hot-air blower, electrically worked, and a spyayer are provided with the outfit. The process is as described. Tire burn is first gently washed with distilled water or a very weak antiseptic solution—strong antiseptics are only harmful—then the molten wax, heated to a temperature of about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, is sprayed over the wound until a complete covering is effected. The rest of the method follows the lines described. The treatment is renewed every twentyfour hours, when all pus and mortified matter comes away, and the new skin grows healthily underneath and new tissues are formed. The main point is that the flesh of the burn must be absolutely dry before the hot “Amberine” is applied. Care must be taken to avoid touching the whole skin with the hot “Amberine,” which at that temperature will cause a burn itself. There is no pain where it touches merely the burnt flesh. The '“Amberine” treatment may also be applied to certain classes of ulcers and ordinary wounds and amputations. For simple burns wax is made into candles, which are lighted and allowed to drip on the spot. The material has been difficult to manufacture on account of the care required, but it is in general use in the United States and has been a perfect boon in the great steel works, where bad burns are of daily occurrence.