A mom from Australia is now warning mothers about using vaporizers or steam inhalation on babies. The mom said her seven-year-old son suffered from third-degree burns after using the vaporizer to relieve his son from colds.
In 2016, doctors also made a similar warning after a study found that one child each month in Australia suffered burns from vaporizer burns.
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His whole hand was just white
When Emily Tooth heard her child scream, she dropped her plate and raced towards his seven-month-old baby. She found her son writhing in pain, and his whole hand was just white. She saw her baby with his hand was held over the steam on the vaporizer. Emily immediately picked up her son and ran his hand under cold water. However, the damage has been done. His tiny hand was white, and the skin was peeling off, 7News reports.
Earlier that day, Heather, her son, had a terrible cold, so she turned to a known vaporizer to relieve her son. Emily has been using a vaporizer to help her family ease cold and flu symptoms.
The product is sold in department stores and pharmacies. It has internal heating technology that boils water and essential oils before releasing them into the air as steam.
Emily used eucalyptus oil to help clear his clogged nose.
She put the vaporizer on a low-to-the-floor ledge behind the baby's cradle before putting his son down, leaving the room to do her other chores.
Emergency dash to Sydney
When she saw her baby's hand, the mom wrapped her baby and dashed to the nearest hospital. However, the doctors sent Heath and Emily to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital via ambulance. Still, doctors sent him to the burn unit at the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney.
The baby's third-degree burns damaged multiple layers of skin and tissue that exposed his bones.
Doctors in Sydney immediately performed a seven-hour operation on Heath, taking tissues from his hip and transplanting it to his injured hand. The wait was excruciating for the mom, but the operation was successful.
After the operation, mom and Heath had to travel a seven-hour one-way trip to Sydney hospital once or twice a week.
The mom says Heath is much better now, but he still needs more surgery for his hand when he grows older.
Emily said she would never use vaporizers at home again.
Healthline suggests that if one has children or pets, it may be better to use a cool-mist humidifier instead to avoid burn injuries.
Warning on vaporizers
Six years ago, doctors warned parents to take extra care in using steam vaporizers after a study revealed that one child gets burns from popular devices each month. Half of these kids require surgery.
The study found that in 2014, Royal Children's Hospital's outpatient burn clinic treated ten children in ten months for steam burns due to vaporizers. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that most of these are hand burns, with babies aged 18 months on average.
Dr. Sarah Lonie, a plastic surgery registrar at Royal Hobart Hospital, calls on authorities to increase public awareness of the dangers of vaporizers. She also advises that if children suffer burns from vaporizers, parents should take them to the nearest hospital or medical center for urgent treatment.
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