Which of the following is the worst burn: first degree, second degree, or third degree?

Kainantu

There are three levels of burns:  First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of the skin. They cause pain, redness, and swelling.  Second-degree (partial thickness) burns affect both the outer and underlying layer of skin. They cause pain, redness, swelling, and blistering.  Third-degree (full thickness) burns extend into deeper tissues. They cause white or blackened, charred skin that may be numb. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000030.htm Nov 04 04, 7:28 PM

Baloo55th

Surprisingly, very often the worse the burning, the less it can hurt. In severe third degree burning, the nerve endings are destroyed, and the pain is only around the edges where it shades off into second and first degree. I've never had worse than second degree to deal with, but I've heard of cases where people have walked out of a burning house black from head to toe and in no pain. Apparently they died later as the burning was too severe to recover from. There is a rule of nines dealing with this. Must look it up as I'm due for requal in two weeks... Various parts of the body are assigned the value 9 (or 18). An arm is a 9. You add up the figures and that gives you a rough percentage. (There is 1% left over - I'll let you work out where it is!) Nov 05 04, 6:41 AM