'Therapeutic' burns (Maqua)

Cauterization of the skin by a red-hot iron, a pinch of hot cinder or a burning coal, is a form of 'treatment' used by lay healers in some parts of Africa and the Middle East. The burns are limited to small circular areas, and are usually full-thickness skin loss. Most frequently, the patients do not seek medical treatment and the burns heal by secondary intention. Sometimes, however, disastrous complications such as infectious osteomyelitis, septicaemia and death may occur.