Why Did My Epidermal Burn Wound Look Like White Foam?
Expert: Jim B – 11/10/2006 Question Hi: I once suffered a burn wound after accidentally touching a hot plate. I think it was a superficial first-degree burn [only epidermis injured]. The skin texture, size and moisture content didn’t change at all. There was no swelling at all. The burn healed long time ago. However, I am still curious as to why the burn wound looked white. I am very dark-skinned [literally as dark as an Oreo cookie]. My burn wound appeared white — like white foam. It was not cold, so vasoconstriction didn’t cause the color change. The wound was unusually hot, extremely irritating, painful and foamy white. The plate wasn’t nearly hot enough to dehydrate my skin at all. Plus the duration of contact wasn’t long enough to dehydrate my skin in the burn region. So dehydration is not what made my burn look white. It is highly probable that the heat from the plate denatured the protein molecules of the epidermis in the burn. Denaturation causes proteins to lose their non-cov
