This study aimed at translating and adapting the Burns Specific Pain Anxiety Scale--BSPAS and the Impact of Event Scale--IES into Portuguese; making available two simple, short and easily applicable instruments and describing the study participants according to their scores on the Visual Analogue Scale and the Trait-State Anxiety Inventory. The cross-cultural adaptation process involved the following steps: translation of the scales; reaching a consensus in Portuguese; evaluation by an expert committee; back-translation; obtaining a consensus in Dutch; comparing the original versions with the consensus in Dutch; semantic analysis and pretest of the Portuguese versions. The results showed that both scales present high values of internal consistency between the scale items. Participants' average pain scores were higher after bathing and wound dressing. Participants' average anxiety scores were low or medium.