By: Matthew Hick
It has happened to just about everyone. You’re outside and the sun doesn’t seem that strong. Maybe you just forgot your sun block and sunscreen and fell asleep for too long by the pool. Or it may be that you’re in a hurry, and you’re just too lazy to put it on. Nevertheless, a few hours later you look in the mirror and there it is: the dreaded sunburn.
Sunburn causes skin inflammation from overexposure to the sun’s rays. UV rays can result in severe damage to your skin, and can even be deadly. They can result in premature aging and skin cancer. To protect yourself from sunburn, you can guard your skin from permanent damaging effects. Antioxidants have been proven to counteract the sun’s damaging effects on skin. Of course, the best sunburn remedy is not get one in the first place. Using sunscreen with at least a 15 SPF and limiting exposure during the hours of 10:00am through 3:00 pm can accomplish this. If you fail to do these things, there are some remedies to use after the fact.
Anyone who has suffered from sunburn knows how truly painful it can be. You want relief and you want it fast! So what can you do to stop the pain? What is the best sunburn remedy? There are actually a number of sunburn remedies available today. They range from the store bought items to home remedies. What works best may be a trial and error period for you.
Aloe has always been known to be a great treatment for sunburn. If you’re lucky enough to have access to an aloe plant, take a leaf and apply the gel from it. If you don’t have an aloe plant, you will have to go the store to get aloe vera in the bottle. Just make sure you look for 100% aloe vera that contains no added ingredients. A regular dose of vitamin E will also help to decrease skin inflammation. Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ or vegetable oils – especially sunflower oil, soybean oil, and nuts. If you decide to go with the supplement, make sure you only get the natural form. Another inflammation reducer is aspirin; however, it only works if take within the first twenty-four hours of being overexposed to the sun.
If you don’t feel like going to the store for your relief, then you can always try some home remedies. A cool – not cold – bath can relieve your pain. You can add 1 cup of vinegar to tepid bath water for pain relief, or try a ¼ cup baking soda and ¼ cup cornstarch combination. Just make sure you don’t add bubbles or fragrances to the bath water.
Vegetables are known to help as a sunburn remedy. When applied to the burn, thinly sliced cucumbers, potatoes, or apples can be soothing and may even help reduce the inflammation. Dabbing milk on the sunburn with gauze for 20 minutes every 2 to 4 hours may also do the trick.
So if you find yourself with the “ouchies” from sunburn, try one of the remedies listed above. However, if you have the chills, nausea, fever, faintness, fatigue, purple blotches or discoloration on your skin, excessive blistering, or intense itching, it’s time to skip the remedies and head to the doctor.
