10 Sunburn Remedies & Treatment Tips

Ouch!  Man that sunburn hurts. Now you want to know how to get rid of that bad sunburn.  Well, here’s 10 ways how to treat sunburns:

1.  Stay out of the sun.  Obvious isn’t it?!  Well, you’d be surprised how many people with bad sunburns make them even worse by continuing to spend time in the sun.  Doh!  Give your skin a break.  Avoid those dangerous UV rays.

2.  Pop two over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, with-in 6 hours of being scorched.  This will reduce inflammation, which helps sunburn symptoms like swelling and redness.

3.  Dunk a clean washcloth in cold milk and drape it over the burned area for 5-10 minutes every hour for the first 6 hours after getting your bad sunburn.  The lactic acid in the milk will help reduce inflammation, and sunburn redness.  The coolness will also ease the potential of sunburn blisters and sunburn swelling.

4.  Take a cool shower or bath.  This helps to take some of the heat out of the sunburned area.  It also helps to clean the sunburn, which is important to help avoid infection.  An old home sunburn remedy is to put white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in your bath water.

5.  Apply aloe vera to the sun burn area.  Aloe is a common ingredient in commercial sunburn treatment lotions.  My grandma kept a house aloe vera plant for sunburn relief purposes.  She’d put some aloe leafs in the fridge to cool them off before applying.  Oh, that feels so good!

California Baby Soothing and Healing Mist With Aloe Vera is an example of a product that includes aloe vera.  It feels so cool on your sunburnt skin. Plus it helps sooth and hydrate the skin after sun exposure.

6. Drink lots of water.  Your skin has been damaged.  Your body needs lots of hydration to help start the sunburn healing process.  Also, a full tank of water helps your body sweat properly.  Sweat helps cool off your skin and take some heat away from that sunburn.  If your body is dehydrated, it will take longer to heal that pesky sunburn. Remember, many people that are dehydrated don’t even know, because they aren’t thirsty. So keep that water bottle close!

7.  Go to the doctor.  Don’t be a hero, dad. It could be serious. The Mayo Clinic advises to seek medical attention if your sunburn is “accompanied by a high fever, extreme pain, confusion, vomiting, or diarrhea.”  Also, if the sunburn is “blistering and covers a large portion of your body.”

You need to be careful that the sunburn doesn’t get infected.  Signs of infection include:  “increasing pain and tenderness; increased swelling; yellow drainage from an open blister, and red streaks leading away from the open blister which may extend in a line upward along the arm or leg.”   Don’t mess around and get to a doctor if your sunburn is infected.

The next few sun burn treatments I would consider more of the home remedies for sunburn variety of cures.  You know, most likely your doctor won’t tell you about them.  But, if these home sunburn remedies keep getting passed generation to generation, they probably will help.

8.  Use baking soda.  Place baking soda in your cool bath water and soak.  Or, dissolve some baking soda in water and make a compress using a clean cloth.  Post applying, let the sunburn area air dry.  Baking soda has a cooling effect and will help the sunburned skin retain moisture.

9.  Try Noxzema.  Yep, the zit-avoidance face wash.  It helps takes the sting and “itchy” out of the sunburn.  Plus, it is soothing to the sunburned skin.

10. Veggies?! Blend some potatoes and apply for a natural sunburn remedy.  Tomatoes sting, but the sunburn itch and swelling turn out the best compared to the other “veggie” treatments.  Avocado or cucumbers also are mentioned in those home sunburn treatments.

And you thought, “mix in a salad, dude” was just reserved for times when your friends were letting you know you needed to drop some pounds.  Who knew it would help sunburns too!

What’s the best sunburn cure of all?  Don’t get the sunburn in the first place!

Make sure you read the balance of Super Sun Protection.  Try some of our product recommendations.  And learn ways to avoid sunburns.