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Soy Sauce Can Ease the Pain of a Kitchen Burn

Dousing burned skin with soy sauce can often relieve the pain and limit the redness.

Household accidents like kitchen burns don’t always need full-fledged medical attention. But some quick first aid can make a difference. For common burns, we are partial to a home remedy that uses cold water first, and then a soy sauce soak.

Soy Sauce for the Pain of a Kitchen Burn:

Q. I recently had a bad burn on my finger due to grease popping. I doused it with soy sauce and it felt better immediately.

I only kept the soy sauce on it for about a minute and I still had some irritation the next day. I was impressed with the immediate relief, but I wish I had left the soy sauce on longer.

A. We have heard from numerous readers that soy sauce can ease the pain and even the redness of a kitchen burn. We have used this remedy ourselves and find it helpful, but it does work better if you leave the soy sauce on for longer than a minute.

GN reported:

“I have used soy sauce for years for burns. It really works. When my kids especially, would get burns I would pour a little in a dish and they would soak in it and lick their fingers until the burning was gone. It was usually within 15 minutes. I also have used mustard when camping.”

Dee offered her testimony:

“I have used soy or Tamari sauce on burns for several years. It works! I didn’t know about the cold water so I just put it directly on the burn immediately. It stings for a bit, but then any evidence that I was ever burned disappears like magic. I’ve had some pretty severe burns and it always works the same. I keep a small bottle of it in my bathroom for when I (frequently) touch something other than my hair with the curling iron.”

So far as we can tell, this home remedy has not been studied. Scientists are considering soy protein as a source for making burn dressings, however (Acta Biomaterialia, Jan., 2012).

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About the Author
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist who has dedicated his career to making drug information understandable to consumers. His best-selling book, The People’s Pharmacy, was published in 1976 and led to a syndicated newspaper column, syndicated public radio show and web site. In 2006, Long Island University awarded him an honorary doctorate as “one of the country's leading drug experts for the consumer.”.
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