Handy Dandy Witch Hazel

Wouldn't you know that it would happen on the very LAST batch of butter crunch?  Emma (11) was helping me to spread the hot toffee onto the cookie sheets when her knuckles grazed the 310 F mixture.  I knew from experience that she would have a second degree burn and I acted quickly to minimize the damage.  As she ran cool water over her hand, I began to prepare cotton balls drenched in Witch Hazel.

Growing up, we always had an aloe plant in the kitchen to help treat burns.  Just rip off a spiny leaf and squeeze the gooey liquid onto the burn.  It has wonderful healing properties for the skin, but I never felt that it helped deal with the PAIN.  That's why Witch Hazel is my remedy of choice for the immediate effects of the burn, and aloe can come in later to do it's job once the pain is gone.

So back to Emma.  I placed the cotton balls dripping with Witch Hazel onto her fingers and taped them on with medical tape.  I had her sit down for a minute while I finished the butter crunch.  But, in my nervousness at seeing my child injured, I kept asking her, "How are you doing?  Are you feeling any pain?"  She would reply with a confused expression, "I don't know why you are so worried, it doesn't hurt."  I knew what she didn't, that as soon as the initial Witch Hazel wore off and needed to be refreshed, she would begin to feel the pain.  In fact, that is how you know that it is time to change it out, because when it is fresh, you don't feel the burn.  WONDERFUL thing Witch Hazel.  So she continued to refresh the cotton balls with Witch Hazel for the next 4-5 hours.  By then, she had some lovely blisters on her fingers, and we moved to the aloe/herbal lotion stage.

Not only does Witch Hazel take away the pain of a burn, but it actual works to slow down the damage to the tissue, and speeds the healing process.  That is why it is an excellent first responder to the minor burn, and why it has a home in our kitchen.