system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why does sugar help a burn?

My friend burnt her finger and her son said to "put in in the sugar." She did and felt immediate relief. We looked online and found that sugar is indeed used to help burns, but nothing about why it helps.
gpt
There's a couple ways it's beneficial.

Primarily, sugar absorbs water really well. This sucks up all the water in the wound, inhibiting the growth of bacteria that proliferate in wet wounds. This also has the effect of reducing swelling in the area. 

Additionally, cells use sugar for energy. When a burn occurs, the normal distribution network of our skin is disrupted, cutting cells off from the nutrients they need to live. There's evidence that sugar can act as an energy source for those cells when it's absorbed into the blood- keeping cell death to a minimum while the wound heals.