Do you know what the largest organ in the body is? Yup. It’s your skin. It’s an organ. Really. Without your skin, you muscles, bones, and internal organs would have no protection. You wouldn’t be able to regulate your body’s temperature, and you wouldn’t be able to feel the world around you through your nerves and sense of touch. All of those functions take place in your skin. And it’s your job to do all you can to protect it.
That means avoiding things and behaviors that might burn you. It means wearing sunblock EVERY TIME you go outside into the sun. Even on cloudy days, your skin is subject to the UV rays that could lead to a painful sunburn.
Check out the above diagram of your skin. You can see it’s a pretty complex organ, with multiple layers and functions.
A burn injury usually results from an energy transfer to the body. There are many types of burns caused by thermal, radiation, chemical, or electrical contact.
There are three classifications of burns. Classifications have to do with how how deep and severe a burn penetrates the skin’s surface You might have heard the terms, first, second and third degree burns. But most medical professionals now classify burn severity this way:
Determining how severe a burn is, isn’t just about figuring our the thickness. It’s also about figuring out the size. Medial professionals use something called The Rule of Nines to estimate burn size, which in turns tells them about burn severity.