Everybody does something like sticking a finger to a hot pan now and again. It’s just one of those home accidents that seem to be waiting to happen at the first opportunity.

A minor burn is not fatal or even very serious, but it is painful. The first thing to do is to forget the idea of putting butter on the minor burn, and don’t grab an ice cube, either. Neither will help — and they will, in fact, be detrimental to the healing process.

People have been burning themselves probably since the cavemen first discovered fire. Most burns are minor incidents that would likely heal just fine if no first aid at all was provided.

Small, minor burns that are only affecting the top layers of the skin can easily be treated at home. More serious, large, and deep burns need to be seen by and treated by a physician and as soon as possible.

When a minor burn happens, the first thing to do is to get it under cold running water as quickly as possible. The sooner the burning process can be stopped, the better. You need to put out the fire, so to speak.

The second thing to do about a minor burn after it has been held under cold running water and the burning has ceased is absolutely nothing. Leave it alone. The skin isn’t broken, and the body is designed to take care of the problem. If a blister forms, do NOT pop it. Leave it alone. The fluid will be absorbed back into the body and help with the healing process.

Cover the burn with a clean porous bandage-like gauze and leave it alone for a full 24 hours. After a full day has passed, you can start applying the aloe vera gel to the burn. Aloe vera gel is found in the middle of the leaves of the aloe vera plant. Simply cut a leaf open, extract the gel, and apply it to the burn.