Butter for Burns
For centuries, people treated burns by slathering them in butter, lard, or grease. The logic was simple: keep the skin moist to promote healing and reduce pain. But instead of soothing the injury, fatty substances trapped heat in the skin, worsening the damage and inviting infection.
Butter-covered wounds became breeding grounds for bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, leading to pus-filled blisters and life-threatening complications. Despite obvious dangers, the method stuck around well into the 20th century, passed down through generations. Today, we know better: butter belongs on toast, not second-degree burns.
