“Burn”

Burns on the hand can be serious but they can also be managed. The serious ones are circumferential meaning they go all the way around the finger or the hand and could cut off the blood supply to the tissue. If it is your dominant hand it is more worrisome. If it is just red it is first degree, it if blisters it is second degree and if it is pale it could be third degree. Hand burns should be seen by a burn surgeon for the best chance of healling.

There are different levels of burns. A first degree burn is quite painful, but usually just results in redness to the skin, no blistering or peeling. From the picture it does not appear to be any skin breakdown, so I'm thinking it's a first degree burn. You can use silvadene cream or a triple antibiotic ointment (like Neosporin) and you should be fine. Anti-inflammatories like Motrin can also be helpful for pain control. If you went to the ER, and there is no skin breakdown, they would treat it the same way.

Straight off, the hand should have been cooled immediately with cold compresses, cold water, no ice applied directly to the skin. Next, or first, this is your hand, you should be seen at a burn center ASAP. Do not put 'burn salves' or any OTC burn creams on it. From the picture, this looks like a first degree burn but not knowing the exact time of the burn and what has been done to it thus far, it is imposible to tell. If any blistering develops then it is a second degree burn. The hand should be wrapped now with a clean dry towel or bulky cloth. GO TO A BURN CENTER! On going follow up is going to be very important for this.