Thread: Burns
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Old 2011-06-24, 12:51am
margepoc margepoc is offline
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Join Date: May 28, 2010
Location: Rochester NY
Posts: 25
Default Burns

It has been awhile since I've been in to visit, and I haven't seen the on/off button to my oxygen generator in a long time... Precisely since October of last year. I had just received a huge order of glass and was so excited at all the possibilities. I started adding and adding and ended up with a huge bead, or so I thought that's how the story would end....

The bead dropped on the floor and shattered (cold concrete), so when I couldn't find all of it, I wasn't alarmed. I thought it looked like a lot of glass was missing, but just shrugged my shoulders and turned off everything, tidied up and went inside frustrated.

When I got in the house, my husband said, "burned your shirt I see" but I hadn't noticed anything at the time. The next day when I went to take a shower, I had a HUGE - golf ball sized - burn in my belly button area. The burn was so bad that the skin looked like it had been turned into leather. The burn had burned so many layers of skin that it was 1/4" deep. I've been going to the doctor since October and it has finally filled in and covered over, but it isn't quite healed yet. There is still a lot of scabbing and scarring.

I have an anxiety attack every time I think about starting up my torches, but I know I want to get back to working with glass. I did find information where someone recommended using a leather apron and I took a piece of leather and dropped molten glass on it to see what would happen. The leather just rolled off the leather. It did scar the leather, but better the leather than me.

I just thought that I should post this so that anyone out there who doesn't know about the leather apron or anyone who thinks it cannot happen to them, well..... It can and will sometime or another. I have had other little burns from glass popping, etc., and just blew them off as experience.

Just an interesting side point, the burn didn't hurt at all until after the leathery surface had been removed and it started to heal. I asked the plastic surgeon about it, and he said it was because as the glass melted into my skin, it burned the nerve endings causing me to not even know it was there until I took a shower the next day.

I know I will think twice about safety recommendations -- no matter how silly or unnecessary they may sound. I used to watch all kinds of videos about lampworking, etc., and I don't remember more than a few using an apron. I know we all have to take responsibility for ourselves, but know that a lot of the newbies cannot attend classes and you're the only teachers they have.

Please for your sake, protect yourself no matter what else you do!
Marge
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