Burns

Burns are a type of injury to the skin or flesh that occurs when skin is exposed to excessive levels of heat, electricity, radiation, friction, ultraviolet light, or chemicals. Minor burns can often be treated quite easily, but severe burns may necessitate specialized treatment available at burn centres and involve serious medical procedures such as skin grafts. Burns are categorized into three degrees depending on severity. First degree burns are the least serious type of burns that occur when a burn is limited to only the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin. Second degrees occur when the epidermis has been completely burned through and the dermis, the second layer of skin, has also been burned. Third degree burns are the most serious types of burns and describe a situation where a burn has penetrated all layers of the skin, and may even have reached the muscle, fat, or bone.