In what way would a patient typically feel pain with a third-degree burn?

A third-degree burn, also known as a full-thickness burn, extends through the epidermis and dermis and affects deeper tissues. This level of burn destroys nerve endings in the affected area, leading to a loss of sensation in that specific region of the skin. As a result, patients with third-degree burns often report experiencing little or no pain in the burned area itself due to the significant damage to nerve fibers.

While burns of lesser degrees may involve pain due to the irritation and inflammation of superficial tissues, the extensive destruction of tissues present in a third-degree burn leads to a lack of pain sensation in that area. However, this does not mean the patient does not experience pain in surrounding areas or in other parts of the body; they may still feel significant pain if other areas are affected or due to pain from the body’s overall stress response to severe injury.