Avoid Burn-Blisters with a Slice of Tomato
How It Works
If you accidentally burn yourself (I'm talking minor burns, ie: OUCH, I touched a hot pot!), run cold water over the burn and immediately after put a freshly sliced slice of tomato onto the burn (with the fleshy inside touching the burn). Leave it on the burn, with light pressure from your hand (or wrap it on), for around 10 minutes. The tomato should feel cool on your skin AND, more importantly, the lycopene from the tomato will help avoid blistering.
What You’ll Need
- fresh (raw) tomato
- cool water
- 10 minutes
Difficulty
nor hard Somewhat
challenging Very
challenging
Story
I burned my hand on a hot pot while working in a cafe and the chef came running over with a slice of tomato, telling me to put it on the burn, hold, and wait 10 minutes. It seemed kind of bizarre (he provided no explanation) but I tried it. The tomato provided some soothing, cooling relief – which could just be chalked up to the cool temperature of the tomato – but, sure enough, my burn didn't blister. I googled it later on and discovered that the reason it works is that tomatoes contain lycopene, which naturally reduces the heat of minor burns and thus soothes the skin and helps to avoid blistering.
I learned about this trick when I scalded myself at a restaurant a few years back. I've got the type of skin that blisters easily so you can imagine my surprise when that burn didnt. It stopped stinging and the typical burn redness started to fade as well. The chef who came out with the tomatoes said they stopped using burn cream in the back since it actually sealed the heat of the burn in, which causes the burn to go deeper. The tomatoes trick works to draw the heat *out* instead.
Yes, exactly!! So glad it works for you too. Chef tricks FTW ;)