Sunburn Remedies
There are several remedies which can be applied at home to treat sunburn. During these hot days of summer many people forget to apply sun cream and end up getting severe sunburn even after going out shopping or for a walk with the kids during the day. Some of the remedies are so common to our daily activities and won’t cost a thing but will relieve the effects of sunburn almost immediately.
- Taking a cold bath: taking a cold bath is one of the best remedies of sunburn. You can add some baking soda that you use in your kitchen into the bath tub then soak for about 15 to 20 minutes as you take your cold, gentle and soothing bath. After the bath don’t wipe your body as you usually do, rather just let the water dry by evaporation. You can use oatmeal – about half a cup or one cup – instead of oils and bubble bath, as it also helps to soothe the skin.
- Aloe Vera juice: sunburns can be relieved by the juice of Aloe Vera, because the juice causes blood vessels around the burnt area to contract. You simply need to get the thick leaves of Aloe Vera, which is available in most shops, cut it and pour the juice on the area with sunburn around five times a day.
- Wet cloth: soak a clean soft piece of cloth then place it over the sunburn and wait for a few minutes before wetting the cloth again and repeating the procedure. It is advisable not to use ice on the sunburn; instead you should use baking powder and oatmeal.
- Drinking water: all dry burns dehydrate the skin. To restore the freshness and wetness of the skin it is advisable to drink a lot of water which will also help in a quick healing of the wounds. You can drink water for as long as you like and as much as you want since water is always needed by the body for various purposes.
- Using a moisturizer: after a cool bath or a wet cloth press, the skin may dry out very quickly. To avoid this you should use a moisturizer on the areas around the sunburn to prevent the dryness. For better result, you could use moisturizer than has been chilled to relieve some pain from the sunburn.
- Use potatoes: you can get some potatoes, cut them up and put them in your blender until they become liquid like or wet and mushy. Place the potatoes on the sun burnt area and wait for it to dry. This is a nice method to reduce the pain and help the burn heal quickly. You can do this in combination with the other remedies.
Dust with cornstarch: you can apply some dust of cornstarch around the areas with sunburn. Don’t apply the usual jellies and oils on the affected part of the skin. If your burns have developed blisters don’t apply the cornstarch as it can make it worse.
- Use pain relievers: sunburn can be painful sometimes no matter what remedies you are using. It would be prudent therefore to make use of the over the counter painkillers you have in your home such as aspirin to reduce the pain and let you carry out your daily activities in peace of your body. You may also have a topical anesthetic at your place such as solarcaine which you can also use to relieve the pain.
All in all it is best if you can avoid getting sunburns in the first place by getting good sun cream to use when going out during sunny days.