Burns can be caused by heat, friction, cold, radiation, chemicals or electricity.  When a person is burned the severity will be of various degrees depending on how much energy was delivered to the tissue at the time. Burn injuries result in tissue destruction since there is a transfer of too much energy to the tissue. First degree burns only affect the top partial thickness of the skin layers, second degree burns effect more layers of skin and third degree burns kills all layers of the skin and affects the tissue underneath. Fourth degree burns kills all layers of the skin and the tissue e.g. fat, muscle or tendons and sometimes bone.

 

Skin death= cell death, when there is a large amount of cell death the body's immune system activates but in a disorganised way resulting in inflammation, swelling and systemic immune depression. Often patients come down with infection and is one of the main causes of death after a burn occurs. When skin cells are destroyed it is often impossible for new skin cells to regrow in the damaged areas and often multiple skin graft surgeries are needed to repair the damaged area. Patients may be left with lifelong scarring, pain and limited mobility.