Wake Up! And Make Your Coffee Carefully… (How To Heal Burns Naturally)

Mid-January this year, my sister burned her wrist with HOT coffee grounds. OUCH!

It was an accident. Making coffee is part of her daily morning routine. As an essential oils friend of ours mentioned, coffee grounds spilt on the skin are worse than a burn from hot coffee, since the grounds hold the scorching water on the skin longer.

Don’t have all the details of how it happened, but my sister shared photos with her Facebook friends and followed up on her healing progress with me. She has given her permission, so I can share her essential oils healing story with you.

Initially, the burn looked pink, angry, and sore. But she didn’t think it would blister. I took one look at this photo (see below) she shared on Facebook, and based on the size of the burn and the location ~ the tender skin on her inner wrist. ~ I was quite sure it was likely to blister.

First Aid Tips On How To Heal Burns Naturally

These suggestions are for minor burns. Any serious deep burn or large burns need to be treated by a doctor.

Don’t know if she thought to run cold water over the burn, but that would have been the first thing to do to cool the skin as quickly (and gently) as possible to reduce heat damage and to limit the depth of injury to her skin cells.

Other concerns with burn injuries are:

~ Preventing Infection
Therapeutic essential oils are EXCELLENT for this purpose.

~ Preventing further Injury to the Damaged Tissue
Soft gauze bandages for larger burns like hers or even simple band-aids for small burns keep the wound clean and offer good protection from abrasion.

My sister didn’t think to protect the burn injury at first. She wrote “When I was putting my arm through my backpack strap yesterday, I rubbed the skin and it came off. Ouch!!!!!! Stupid not to have covered it from the start. Didn’t think it was going to blister…”

January 16
By the next day,  the burn was definitely blistering a bit and sore, so she covered it with Bacitracin and a big bandaid pad.

I suggested she use her essential oils generously, but gently as her skin was going to be very tender & fragile. It was looking nasty.

Here are the suggestions I gave her: “Don’t put the Lavender [essential oil] right on the open wound. Use it all around the area on the unopened area. Wait a few moments, it will absorb completely, and then re-bandage. The EOs [essential oils] are anti-bacterial & anti-infectious.

Just checked my copy of your EOs [essential oils] stash list…Frankincense would be excellent to add after the Lavender application (as long as it’s a pure EO [essential oil], don’t remember what brand you may have). Powerfully healing. Strongly anti-infectious. Gentle. Excellent for skin rejuvenation. Hope you heal quickly!!! And be careful with yourself.”

I also, shared my own teakettle steam burn story from several years ago – when I used Young Living Essential Oils: Lavender & Peppermint & MelRose (a blend) to help it heal.

Jan 20
She emailed: “Here is tonight’s photo of the wrist. I’ve been using a drop each of lavender and frankincense, twice a day.” ~ VCB

I replied: “That’s a really nasty burn. Glad you’re using your essential oils. And it’s clear of infection, one of the main dangers from open burn wounds.

Was quite RELIEVED when you mentioned the dark areas aren’t painful any more. Though they certainly look dramatic!! (Makes me wince…no wonder I didn’t pursue training as an MD!)

Your skin looks like it’s closing up pretty quickly. Do keep up the EOs [essential oils] routine even after the wound has healed over ’til the new skin has grown in and looks ‘natural.’ Are the two drops enough to cover all the damaged skin area? If not, use a couple more drops. The Lavender and Frankincense will keep scarring to a minimum.

Sorry you got injured. It’s been a bit of a rough start to the new year.”

Feb 9
Almost a month later, my sister emailed a happy update: “My wrist is good. The main burn area is a pale pink now. There are two spots more badly burned that are redder and may leave scars. Nothing hurts, no tightness. And, yes, I’m trying to remember the oils. Forgot yesterday…”

And I replied: “Oh! Your wrist is doing fantastically. Isn’t the body amazing?!! If you can remember the oils, I’d be willing to bet you won’t have ANY scars. I’ve observed when therapeutic essential oils are used during the healing process….rather than afterward, scarring tends to be much less.

The key is remembering to use them. I’m not great at remembering either, once the major discomfort is gone. Glad to see you’re healing so well!”

Chatted with my sister again via email today. Here’s how her wrist looks now, six months later:

She says “there is only a faint scar where the worst of the grounds landed and a slight discoloration. No textural difference [in the skin surface]; no difference in sensations.” Since her sense of touch is completely normal, there wasn’t any nerve damage. I suspect with time the pinkish areas may also fade to her normal skin tone, especially since there aren’t any textural differences.

You may want to consider adding pure therapeutic-quality essential oils to your first aid kit or medicine cabinet. Lavender, is a terrific all-purpose essential oil to start with. Frankincense is super as well. With these essential oils you can be confident in treating your own minor wounds and injuries.

Learn more about how to use pure Lavender & Peppermint essential oil for your family’s first aid needs: