From the Guidelines
No, you should not put Vaseline on burns. According to the 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross guidelines for first aid 1, the recommended approach for managing burns involves covering the affected area with a nonadherent bandage or clean cloth to protect the wound and reduce pain, without using substances like Vaseline that could potentially trap heat or interfere with the healing process.
Key Considerations for Burn Care
- Cooling the burn with cool running water for about 10-15 minutes is a crucial initial step.
- Covering the burn with a clean, non-stick bandage or sterile gauze is recommended to protect the wound and reduce pain.
- Substances like Vaseline can trap heat and delay healing, and are not advised for burn care.
- For minor burns, such as first-degree burns or small second-degree burns, applying a thin layer of aloe vera gel or an antibiotic ointment before bandaging may be beneficial.
- Severe burns, or those covering large areas, or burns on sensitive areas like the face, hands, feet, genitals, or major joints, require immediate medical attention without the application of home remedies. The primary goal in managing burns is to promote a clean, breathable environment that fosters natural healing, and using Vaseline or similar products contradicts this principle, as supported by the guidelines 1.
From the Research
Burn Treatment and Topical Agents
- The use of topical antimicrobial agents is crucial in preventing burn wound infections, which can lead to morbidity and mortality 2, 3, 4, 5.
- Various topical agents are available, including silver sulfadiazine, bacitracin, neomycin, and mafenide, which have been shown to decrease wound-related infections and morbidity in burn wounds 2.
- Antiseptics, such as silver-based agents, honey, and iodine-based treatments, have been compared to topical antibiotics, with some studies showing no clear difference in healing rates or infection rates 3.
- The use of Vaseline gauze has been compared to nanocrystalline silver dressings, with some evidence suggesting that silver dressings may have a slightly shorter mean time to healing 3.
Recommendations for Topical Antimicrobial Agents
- International guidelines recommend the use of silver-containing dressings over antiseptics or antibiotics, regardless of burn depth 5.
- Silver sulfadiazine is the most recommended topical antimicrobial in low-resource settings 5.
- However, there is currently no ideal topical antimicrobial agent that can be recommended for all clinical scenarios, and more consistent recommendations are warranted to standardize clinical practice 5.
Use of Vaseline on Burns
- There is moderate certainty evidence that burns treated with nanocrystalline silver dressings probably have a slightly shorter mean time to healing than those treated with Vaseline gauze 3.
- However, the use of Vaseline on burns is not explicitly recommended or discouraged in the available evidence, and more research is needed to determine its effectiveness and safety in burn treatment.