Simple folk remedies: 04 (minor burns and scalds) (Singapore)

A Chinese household will always have dark soya sauce.  In my house, we used it for treating minor burns and scalds as well.  

The principle behind it, according to how I was taught: 

1. the burned/scalded area will be hot, which will create a temperature differential, so air from the atmosphere will be drawn towards it;
2. the viscosity of dark soya sauce seals the surface of the burned/scalded area, preventing moisture in the air from getting in, thus preventing a blister from developing; 
3. Westerners’ way of holding the burned/scalded area under a cold running tap to cool it down is a big no-no in my house, because this will let water in and create a blister.

An alternative to dark soya sauce is butter — for the same reasons listed above.  Butter is a common enough item in the Western kitchen, so it’s a convenient substitute.

I have my own first-hand experience to testify to the effectiveness of the butter treatment.

I was staying at my grandma’s coconut plantation as a 12-year-old during the school holidays.  A bonfire had been going for a while, with the middle reduced to a heap of burned-down wood, and the outer rim the unburned stubs.  I decided to move the unburned stubs into the centre for them to carry on burning.  In the strong mid-day sunlight, I couldn’t see any flames or smoke, so I grabbed one of the stubs fully in my hand.  It turned out to be a smouldering stub, so my whole palm got burned.

Straightaway, I smeared the palm with butter, then sat down to wait.  The pain subsided within a few minutes.  Half an hour later, I wiped off the butter.  

There was not a trace of the injury I’d sustained: no pink palm, no pain, and certainly no blisters.  I was back to normal.  Just like that.  Half an hour.

When I was working in the pub, if I happened to be in the kitchen when a colleague burned/scalded their hand/arm, I’d ask them to apply butter on the affected area.  It was always effective in stopping the pain within a short time.  No burn marks either.

(Singapore, 1960s; London, 2016–18)