stop it, you're killing me...

155 Monkey,
Although I've been here for a while, I'm not new to the community. All sorts of people can attest that I'm an opinionated jackass.

So I can totally make baseless claims, right?

Scars aren't caused by skin falling off, they are caused by angry alien theatins trapped within our body. These are what you call one of those amazing discoveries that's yet to be confirmed empirically. For now, I know that Xenu's evil plot to subjugate alien races by flying them into the hawiian volcanos in spaceships that look suspiciously like DC9's are the truth.

Bring me a fifth of bourbon, and I'll explain the rest. I'll make you a believer in no time.

But until you come to enlightenment about your inner alien, I highly suggest immediatly treating with burn gel, washing with clean water, and applying antibiotic ointment, and tefla gauze bandages, changed twice a day until the normal color of skin returns... or seeking immediate medical attention.

Hi Alex,

I very curious, but I would like to warn you that my initial stance towards any claim about the healing powers of anything, whether it's conventional medicine or alternative, is "show me the data". I'm a medical scientist (MD and PhD), and that's just my approach.

Since "Qi vibrational energy" is a concept that is completely outside the current scientific understanding of the world, I can't put a great deal of faith in that explanation. As the comedian Dara O'Briain says: "Just because science does not know everything doesn't mean you can fill in the gaps with whatever fairytale most appeals to you." (watch this www.youtube.com/watch

That said, I don't think you need to have a mechanistic understanding of a treatment for it to be effective. People used willow bark extracts to fight pain for centuries without knowing that the reason that it works is that it contains acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), which affects the cyclooxygenase reactions that produce the prostaglandins that bind to receptors etc. etc. etc. Empirical testing - just showing that the treatment works - does not require any understanding of mechanism. But how do we determine that something "works"? We humans have a tremendous capacity for self-deception, not because of any ill intent, but because the way our brain has evolved to deal with information makes it a fantastic tool much of the time, but also prone to certain kinds of conceptual illusions in which we perceive patterns that aren't there, and this is particularly true in the realm of illness and healing. There's been lots written about this (read, for example, Thomas Gilovich's excellent book "How We Know What Isn't So").

The upshot of all this is that all claims about the effectiveness of therapy X in treating disease Y get scrutinized very carefully by people like me, so that we don't decide something works and expend resources on it when it's really not effective.

I will PM you my address, and I'd love to look at whatever information you may have. If you really believe that this stuff works, however, you can set up a decent study without a ton of resources. All you need is three friends who agree to help, and some people with burns. Find a person with a burn who want to try this out. Divide the burned area into roughly equivalent sections (mark at the edges of the burn with a permanent marker). Have a friend (A) make two vials/jars/whatever. One contains the real treatment, and the other contains something that looks and feels identical, but does not have the magic stuff in it. The friend does not tell you which is which. Another friend, B (who also does not know which is which), applies the stuff from one jar on one section, and the stuff from the other jar on another section, and records the relevant information. Another friend, C, who also does not know which section got the treatment, evaluates the sections at regular intervals, and records the findings (how many days until the skin is normal, degree of pain, etc.). After some pre-determined number of patients have gone through the process (how many depends on how powerful the effect is expected to be - the more powerful, the fewer data points you need to make it clear - a bit of statistics involved here, but it's not too hard and there are lots of people, myself included, who could help you on this), you "break the blind". Friend A reveals which jar was which, and you do a little statistical analysis and see if the areas that got the treatment really got better faster than the areas that got the control. It's important that friends A, B, and C not talk to each other about the data while the trial is in progress.

If you're interested in doing this, I can help. I am a skeptical scientist type, but I'm also open-minded. I'm working right now on setting up a clinical trial for something that is amazing, though no one knows the mechanism.

Best,

~G

P.S. Sam R - your advice is exactly correct, and is absolutely the standard of care for small burns. Go to a doctor if the burn is 3rd degree anywhere, if you have a 2nd degree burn larger than the palm of your hand, or if you have 2nd degree burns involving the face, hands, or genitals.