Thermal burns are the worst, and everyone gets them sooner or later, and usually they are minor enough to where you just leave them alone and they
heal.
But ugh, they are painful to a point of annoyance. So I managed to touch a piece of glass rod that should have long ago cooled, but still gave me an
impressive looking blister.
So looking through my cabinet I tried different combos of [relatively non-toxic] chemicals to try and ease the pain. I found success. At first I tried
acetone, ethanol, that kind of stuff, and although they provide immediate cooling relief, they are too volatile and only last a minute at most. Then I
found this:
Rub a small amount of Chlorobutanol crystals unto the burn. You'll notice they don't stick very well. Add a very small amount [50ul or the tip of a
pasture pipette full] of chloroform unto the crystals. They kind of fuse into the skin.
30 seconds later... I can't even tell I was burned. Even when I touch it it doesn't hurt - at all. It's been about 30 min since I applied it, and
still no pain, however the crystals are volatile, and although there's nothing left on my finger I still feel no pain. And it's not a cooling
sensation like some other gels, it kills the pain, it makes it feel like any other finger [doesn't numb]
I imagine menthol might work similarly.
Warnings: Obviously, chloroform is carcinogenic. This should be common sense, but don't do this on exposed flesh, only where skin is
intact. This is not meant to be used as a treatment, I discovered a way to kill the pain, not to cure the burn, so use this at your own risk, I'm
simply sharing my findings.
I would be worried about uptake of chloroform dermally.
This is indeed a problem, maybe next time I burn myself, I will try with acetone, as all that needs to happen is for the crystals to adhere. Zephyr - 11-6-2014 at 18:36
I have tried this several times, and it works surprisingly well, athought never with chloroform. Because of this property chlorobutanol has been
historically used as a local anesthetic. Although I do not recommend trying it, placing a small amount of crystals on ones tongue with have an effect
similar to that of licking a banana slug. On a slightly random note, does anyone know the active numbing agent in banana slug?
IIRC menthol and eugenol are both week anesthetics and strangely, xenon can even act a a numbing agent when inhaled.
Interestingly, it seems like the most effective and most common anesthetics are derivatives of cocaine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_anesthetic#Local_anesthet...Fantasma4500 - 12-6-2014 at 01:55
interesting.. looks like i have a reason to attempt synthesizing chloroform now after all!woelen - 12-6-2014 at 02:27
Interesting find. I once made chlorobutanol myself and was surprised by the pleasant properties of this chemical (lovely smell and nice cooling
effect), but never heard of this application.
I would not worry too much about the tiny amount of chloroform you applied at the few square millimeters of burnt skin. However, I would not do this
multiple times. Small exposures repeated many time may introduce adverse effects. So, next time you apply this, you could try ethanol as 'sticking
agent'.
I also would not use this method for large burns. If the burn becomes large (more than several square cm), then you should have treated it
professionally. I see this as a fine method for relieving pain of small burns (5 mm or so diameter at most).Eddygp - 13-6-2014 at 13:12
The weak anaesthetic action of the chlorobutanol can also be achieved by dissolving it in acetone instead of chloroform, probably. That way you expose
yourself less.Brain&Force - 13-6-2014 at 13:22
woelen suggested ethanol, and I would either use ethanol or isopropanol (just because it's common).
Maybe you should try marketing this, numos! It's cool how reagents are useful for all sorts of household purposes.Eddygp - 14-6-2014 at 06:28
Although I do not recommend trying it, placing a small amount of crystals on ones tongue with have an effect similar to that of licking a banana slug.
Benzocaine is also effective for that and potentially less dangerous AFAIK.thesmug - 16-6-2014 at 21:33
The benzocaine partially defeats the purpose of this whole "reagents having real uses" thing because it's far most common (and virtually only) use is
exactly this. Plus it is available virtually everywhere. Still a good suggestion!
