Lye Burn in Mouth... yup, seriously

I will tell the whole story so maybe I don't sound like an idiot.

I ordered 5 bottles of lye from a popular supplier. It arrived in a priority mail box with the bottles wrapped in plastic bags, 2 bottles in each bag. I opened it took out one bottle and put the box on a top shelf, where I thought it would be safe. Used up that bottle and took the box down and got another out. Used that one up and went to get the box down. As I pulled the box down one of the brand new unopened bottles fell out of the box and the factory lid flew off. Physically I don't even understand how it could have come off like that midair. The lye beads splashed all over my face and upper body. In complete shock and fight or flight I ran and poured vinegar on my face and chest as I was taught in the first soapmaking class I ever took. Fortunately, I didn't get burned anywhere except the very edges of the inside of my lips.
Point of telling this story is two-fold. One, always check the lids of your lye bottles when they arrive in the mail and probably don't store your lye above eye level.
Two, can anyone tell me how long it will take for a lye burn on your mucous membrane to heal? It has been over 48 hours and it still is painful to eat or drink anything.
Go ahead and tell me if you think I'm a moron, I know this is the internet and people like to do that.

aww, how terrifying!!! have you tried fresh aloe gel? i swear by it as a heal-all for lye burns. glad you're ok, and you are NOT a moron. i put all my soap stuff wherever i can find room, and some of it is on a top shelf that i can barely, barely reach. for a get-well present, wishing you a real soap space -- abracadabra!

Ouch! I would hold an ice cube to it for a while to numb the pain! What about treating it like a canker sore? http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=41080&catid=183114&aid=338666&aparam=goobase_filler this stuff helps for canker and cold sores.

Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.
Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.

Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further. I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days

Genny said:

Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.
Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.

Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further. I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days

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While I am sorry to hear lye burns happened to both the OP and Genny, I also am curious how Genny got a lye burn on her nipple?

Genny said:

Yikes!! That could have been seriously worse.
Never ever put vinegar on a lye burn, it makes it much worse.

Mouth sores can heal pretty quickly (a week or so) as long as you don't irritate them further. I had a pretty painful nipple lye burn once & it was very painful for days

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I see a lot of the debate of water vs vinegar for lye burns, some say half and half. From this experience I say I only got irritation from the lye in places where I started to sweat before I got the vinegar on. I know that the vinegar/lye reaction can be hotter but the resulting reaction is not caustic so it seems like damned if you do damned if you don't. (?)

Oh how awful! It sounds like the factory didn't screw the lid tightly enough and should have. I'm so glad none went in your eyes or up your nose. I think you're taking good care of it and I hope it's just a minor burn that goes away iin a couple of days since it's already been 48 hrs or so. Maybe the aloe would be soothing and is sure worth a try.

Ouch! Hope you heal up soon. That would have freaked me out. Sorry!

That is so scary!!! I have liquid aloe in my fridge so I would go for that if I had a lye burn. I would just dab it on with a cotton ball as often as I could. I am about to break into my big bag of lye this evening and I am nervous as can be. I might even wait until my hubby gets home. I can be a Big chicken!

hope you heal soon Crocoturtle , there is something else to be learned here : never keep lye above your head level . just as it got a little bit on your lip it could have gotten in a nostril , eye or deeper in the mouth. accident can and do happen ,just got to minimize the severity .

TGC

So glad you are ok! And that it didnt get in your eyes...

i got a lye burn on my hand and i rubbed it with Coconut oil every couple hours. It was gone in 3-5 days
I used coconut oil because i already had it on hand, Its very soothing and its an antibacterial. Hope you feel better soon!!

Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.

Crocoturtle said:

Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.

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I would contact the manager and give him an earful. You could have seriously been hurt.

melstan775 said:

While I am sorry to hear lye burns happened to both the OP and Genny, I also am curious how Genny got a lye burn on her nipple?

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It's nothing kinky if that's what you're thinking

I bumped the lye solution against the counter on accident and it splashed out and landed on my shirt. I was wearing nursing pads, so it soaked up the lye, which was obviously on my nipple. I didn't feel it burning right away, so I started cleaning up the area on the counter & floor where it had splashed. After about a minute, I could feel the burning.

CaliChan said:

I would contact the manager and give him an earful. You could have seriously been hurt.

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I would, too. Even if they don't offer to send you more lye, I'd think they'd want to know so they can look into why it happened.

Genny said:

It's nothing kinky if that's what you're thinking

I bumped the lye solution against the counter on accident and it splashed out and landed on my shirt. I was wearing nursing pads, so it soaked up the lye, which was obviously on my nipple. I didn't feel it burning right away, so I started cleaning up the area on the counter & floor where it had splashed. After about a minute, I could feel the burning.

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I wasn't thinking kinky, lol. Am now though... jeez... j/k. I feel bad for you though. From what I understand, nursing pads never absorb anything from the inside, but from this story, they work to absorb from the outside?? That is not cool. Ouchies for you!

Crocoturtle said:

Thanks for the support everyone! When I contacted the manufacturer their reaction was just "it's a dangerous chemical, you should be more careful" and "we have several techs who insure that the caps are on before shipping." No accountability for the lid not being on and they only asked me if I was out of lye, no offer to replace what I lost.

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I know it was painful & inconvenient with the lye episode. I will not be storing my lye in any place it could spill down on someone because of your post! But container lids could loosen in transit. I know I always check bleach bottles when I buy it, to make sure the lid doesn't come off on the way home from the store. We all are somewhat culpable on how we store known dangerous chemicals, & our precautions we take prior to storing them, for our own loved-one's safety.

Thank you for sharing. I'm off to check the lid to my lye bucket!

Ouch, I'm glad it wasn't more serious!

My local poison control recommends flushing with cold running water for up to 20 minutes or until affected surface no longer has that slippery feel.

Your supplier's response is unacceptable. I'd not do business with them again.

I do store my lye on the top shelf of my pantry, out of the reach of my three-year-old grandson. I always store an opened jar in a plastic bag and tie it. I never thought about a lid coming off an unopened jar. With young children in the house, you either have to store dangerous chemicals out of reach or in a locked storage area.