While people commonly associate burns with only fire or heat, electricity is equally as capable of burning a person as anything else. Electrical burns occur whenever an electrical current jumps from an electrical source, like an outlet, cord, or appliance, and passes through the body. The electricity is capable of burning the skin very deeply and also causing internal damage.
Degrees of Electrical Burns
As with all burns, electrical burns exist with varying degrees of severity. Each degree of severity has distinctive symptoms. First degree burns are mild and injure only the outer layer of skin. The skin turns red and is painful to touch.
Second degree burns are deeper, more severe, and much more painful than first degree burns. Because the burn goes deeper, the nerves are closer to the surface of the skin. This makes them much more sensitive and increases the degree of pain severely. Blisters frequently occur with second degree burns. They typically take 2 weeks to heal.
Third degree burns are the deepest and most serious type of burn. The skin becomes white and leathery at the burn site. Despite this, the skin does not feel very tender when it is touched. This is frequently due to nerve damage.
Main Causes
There are innumerable ways for people to receive an electrical burn. Children are prone to them when they chew on electrical cords and get a nasty shock. The most common ways of receiving electrical burns are sticking a knife into a plugged-in toaster, dropping an appliance into water, sucking or chewing on an electrical cord, and sticking something into an electrical outlet.