How to Treat Rug Burns

Rug burns can occur when there is friction contact between your skin and the rug material. Some can be quite painful, especially if you don’t know how to properly treat them. The term “rug burn” can also be known as a carpet burn or a friction burn. Children are particularly susceptible due to the time they spend playing on the floor. However, rug burns can also occur when completing floor exercises. Rug burns often occur on your joints, primarily your knees and elbows. Most mild variations will last between 2-3 days, however more severe injuries can take 5-6 days to heal. This can be extended further if the person experiences an infection, and in extreme cases the burn may cause some scarring.

Treating Rug Burns

Learning how to treat rug burns is an important part of preventing painful infections. They often involve the skin turning red, and this can be accompanied by swelling, itching, peeling and sensitivity. In more serious cases, a rug burn can involve multiple layers of skin being broken. To treat rug burns effectively, you should: 1.    Make sure your hands are clean. This is an important first step, as otherwise you will increase the likelihood of the wound becoming infected. 2.    Run cool water over the affected area. This will cool the burn, and it will also help to remove any debris. Alternatively, you could also use a damp, clean cloth with         some antibacterial soap. 3.    Soak a cotton ball with disinfectant and apply it to the wound. You should then dry it to prevent microbial infections from occurring. 4.    Once you have disinfected the burn, you should then apply antibacterial cream to the area. 5.    After you have treated the burn, the next stage is to decide whether you should cover the wound. This will depend on how deep it is:

• Severe: Loosely cover the treated rug burn with sterile gauze or a bandage. This will help to protect it from becoming contaminated. However, you should make sure that you don’t wear any clothing on top of the area. This can irritate it further, slowing the healing process and make it more painful.
• Mild: If the burn is quite mild, then you may be able to leave it uncovered. Home Remedy Hacks suggest that if you take this approach, you take a long bath. A thirty-minute soak with antibacterial soap can help to clean the wound, and this should also encourage it to scab.

Home Remedies

There are a few home remedies that can be used to effectively treat rug burns. For example, applying aloe vera to the area can be a great, natural method of speeding up the healing process. It will also help to soothe the inflamed area. You can purchase aloe vera in bottles, lotions or creams, or you can even take the gel straight from the inside of the plant. Honey is another natural solution. It can be used to relieve itching from the burn and will also help the healing process along.

What to avoid

When treating burns, there are always some products that you should avoid. These include, but are not limited to:

• Ice– this can damage the skin further and damage the healing process
• Butter/grease/oils– using butter to treat burns is an old remedy, however we now know that it actually slows the healing process and can trap any remaining heat within the wound.
• Scented lotions/creams/perfumes etc. – these can aggravate the surface and cause unnecessary discomfort.

Preventative Measures We would recommend that you avoid wearing loose clothing that could create friction. The application of Vaseline or petroleum jelly can also provide a welcome barrier and protect against chafing. The type of rug fabric that you choose can also affect the severity of the burn, as more abrasive materials will cause more friction. Choosing a shaggy rug can be a good option in bedrooms for children, as opposed to a flatweave design.