How can you tell if a burn is infected?

Question: I recently got a shallow second degree burn on my arm from bumping the top of the oven. I've had it for about two days now. After it occured I washed it with the first aid saline and put a bandage on it until it scabbed over. This morning I woke up and a blotchy patch of unburned skin around this injury is bright red, sore and maybe just a little swollen. Is it infected or is that normal. The blotchy redness was not there after the burn. It did not appear until this morning.

Answers:
there could be some infection there. Just put a clean dry dressing on every day. do not use neopsorin on it. This just keeps the area wet. Give it a couple more days. What you could do is take a pen and mark the area of redness on your arm and if the redness goes out of this area you know it is getting bigger and should probably get on an antibiotic. Sometimes the trauma to the area can cause it to be red. This is not always a sign of infection. If you start to notice a large amount of puss like drainage and redness, then get to a dr.

Other Answers:
puss

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is it clear like water in side or cloudy clear is ok but don't pop it.if u pop it and it comes back.go to Dr. you are infected.But you can put cold compress on it you can put on a antibiotic cream on it . By your description of the wound sounds like it is trying to heal. If it is infected, it would be red all around the area, swollen, possible drainage and have fever in the area. Keep doing what you're doing; wash with soap and water, keep the area clean and dry and use a non-stick bandage. Could be it's sticking to your bandage and you're pulling off skin cells when you take it off. Try "telfa" pads. You can also call your doctor for some "silverdine" salve used for burns. It looks nasty when you use it but helps heal that burn quickly. Do not use NEOSPORIN on the area unless it is definitely infected. It will kill new skin cells and make it worse. Good luck.

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