Too Hot to Traverse

Sometimes we’ll walk outside in our bare feet, especially if we’re at the beach. But being barefoot on hot pavement and sand can result in a thermal injury to your feet. Here's some insight into what to do if you burn your feet – lightly or worse.

We don’t realize just how easy it is to burn our feet. On hot sunny days, sidewalks, driveways, roads, and sand heat up extremely fast – upwards to 120⁰ F – and before you realize it the bottoms of your feet have a first- or even second-degree burn. And, of course, you can get sunburn on the tops of your feet if they’re exposed and you did not apply any sunscreen to them. Whether it’s the bottoms or the tops of your feet, you’ll know if you’ve burned them if you experience symptoms like – skin redness, feet feeling warm or hot, possible swelling, and/or a burning sensation in your feet.

Once you’ve burned your feet, you can be dealing with varying levels of pain, challenges to walking, and can even be physically off-balance. And dealing with burns on your feet, even minor burns, can impede your ability to perform daily tasks.

If you’ve burned your feet there are a number of treatments you can do at home to help soothe them and relieve discomfort. Try these options:

Gently clean and pat dry your feet with a clean towel. Please do not scrub or use soap directly on the burn to avoid infection.
Run cool water (not cold) over the burn spots on your feet for 10 minutes. This will help lower the temperature in your feet and should ease pain.

Try the RICE method – rest the feet, apply ice wrapped in a cloth for 15–20 minutes, use gentle compression if needed, and elevate your feet to reduce swelling.
Apply a cocoa butter or similar lotion to the burns to prevent them from becoming dried out and your skin from peeling.
Take over the counter (OTC) analgesics (think Tylenol, Advil®, Motrin-IB®, Aleve® or a store-brand Ibuprofen) to help temporarily reduce the pain.

Minor burns tend to heal on their own in a week or two as you manage the pain and discomfort at home. Of course throughout your recovery, you’ll need to monitor how your burns are healing and look for any sign of infection like blisters, pus, spreading redness, fever, or severe pain. If the burns show signs of infection, are second- or third-degree burns, or cover a large area of your foot, it’s imperative that you to seek professional care from your podiatrist. They’ll be able to determine the best course of treatment for you.