To oparzenie nie wygląda źle, ale opatrunek trzeba zmieniać codziennie.

Here to means this.

It matches the gender of oparzenie, which is neuter. In Polish, this changes form:

• ten for masculine
• ta for feminine
• to for neuter

So:

• ten bandaż = this bandage
• ta rana = this wound
• to oparzenie = this burn

Oparzenie is a neuter noun. Many Polish nouns ending in -enie are neuter.

So:

• oparzenie = burn, scald
• nominative singular: to oparzenie
• that is why the demonstrative is also to

This is something you often just have to learn with the noun, but the -enie ending is a useful clue.

Oparzenie means a burn or a scald.

It is used for damage to the skin caused by heat, steam, hot liquid, fire, and similar things. In everyday English, burn is usually the most natural translation.

So in this sentence, To oparzenie means This burn.

Because wyglądać means to look / to appear.

So:

• nie wygląda źle = it doesn’t look bad
• nie jest złe = it isn’t bad

These are close, but not identical.

Nie wygląda źle is about appearance or how serious it seems at first glance.
Nie jest złe is a stronger statement about what it actually is.

In medical contexts, nie wygląda źle sounds natural because someone is judging the injury by looking at it.

Because after wyglądać, Polish very often uses an adverb, not an adjective.

So:

• wygląda dobrze = looks good
• wygląda źle = looks bad
• wygląda fatalnie = looks terrible

Here źle is an adverb meaning badly, but in English we translate it naturally as bad: It looks bad.

If you used złe, that would be an adjective, and it would not fit this structure.

Opatrunek means dressing or sometimes bandage, depending on context.

In medical Polish, opatrunek is a general word for something put on a wound or burn to protect it.
English dressing is often the best translation here.

So:

• opatrunek = dressing
• sometimes also translated as bandage

In this sentence, dressing is probably the most precise choice.

Trzeba is an impersonal word meaning it is necessary, one must, or you have to.

So:

• opatrunek trzeba zmieniać = the dressing needs to be changed / you have to change the dressing

There is no explicit subject like you or someone. Polish often uses trzeba when the action is generally necessary, without saying who exactly must do it.

Compare:

• Musisz zmieniać opatrunek. = You must change the dressing.
• Opatrunek trzeba zmieniać. = The dressing has to be changed.

The second sounds more general and less personal.

Because zmieniać is imperfective, and it fits repeated or habitual action.

Here codziennie means every day / daily, so the sentence is talking about something that must happen regularly:

• trzeba zmieniać codziennie = it has to be changed every day

If you used zmienić, that would be perfective, focusing on one completed change:

• trzeba zmienić opatrunek = the dressing needs to be changed once / needs changing now

So the contrast is:

• zmieniać = to be changing / to change repeatedly
• zmienić = to change once, completely

It actually is in the accusative, but for a masculine inanimate noun like opatrunek, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: opatrunek
• accusative: opatrunek

That is why the form does not visibly change.

You can tell it is the object of zmieniać from the sentence structure and meaning, not from a different ending.

Compare with a noun whose accusative does change:

• rana = wound
• zmieniać ranę = to treat/change the wound dressing around the wound

There, the ending changes more clearly.

Codziennie means every day or daily.

In this sentence:

• opatrunek trzeba zmieniać codziennie = the dressing needs to be changed every day

Putting codziennie at the end is very natural, but Polish word order is flexible. You could also say:

• Codziennie trzeba zmieniać opatrunek.
• Opatrunek codziennie trzeba zmieniać.

These all mean roughly the same thing, though the emphasis changes a little.

The version in your sentence is neutral and natural.

Ale means but.

It links two ideas:

• To oparzenie nie wygląda źle = this burn doesn’t look bad
• ale opatrunek trzeba zmieniać codziennie = but the dressing needs to be changed every day

So the speaker is saying: the situation does not seem severe, but proper care is still necessary.

This is a very common Polish use of ale: one part sounds reassuring, and the second adds an important condition or caution.