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You know the feeling. It’s the first nice summer day. You throw on some shorts and a tank top (or a bikini top for the gals) and off you go with some magazines and guilty-pleasure reading. The sun feels good and you can’t resist; you stay outside all day. Later on, your skin tingles and you notice that oh-so-lovely shade of lobster red in various locations on your body.
Well, we’ve all been there. And though it’s a lesson we should only learn once, for some of us, it happens each year like ritual. But why does it happen and how can you treat it naturally?
What Causes Sunburn?
Sunburn is due to excessive exposure to the sun’s ultra-violet rays. There are two types of ultra-violet rays—ultra-violet A (UVA) and ultra-violet B (UVB). Both are very strong and harmful to the skin, but UVB rays attack the skin’s outer layers, while UVA are rays that attack the underlying layers. When they are reflected off water, metal, snow, or sand, the effect intensifies. The intensity of the sunburn depends on the amount of exposure to the individual, the geographical location, the time, and the atmospheric conditions. You should protect yourself with sunscreen if you’re going to be outside, and as you’ve probably painfully found out, applying it just once doesn’t cut it—always reapply after swimming or excessive sweating.
Home Remedies to Try
Drink plenty of fluids to keep yourself hydrated.
Apply cool-water compresses or fill a bathtub with cold water and dissolve 1 pound of baking soda or oatmeal in it.
Dip some gauze in milk and apply it to your sunburned skin, a tip from a dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at The New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center, in New York City. The milk should be about room temperature or slightly cooler, but not refrigerator-cold. Repeat every 2 to 4 hours. Allow the compress to remain on the burn for about 20 minutes. Make sure the milk is full fat, not skim.
Get your veggies.
Thinly sliced pieces of raw cucumber, potato, or apple can be placed on sunburned areas such as the forearm. The coolness from the vegetables is soothing and might help reduce inflammation. Have some frozen peas? Place the bag right on the burned area.
Take your vitamins.
A regular dose of vitamin E is thought to help decrease sunburn’s inflammation. Good food sources of vitamin E include whole grains such as wheat germ, vegetable oils (especially sunflower and soybean oil), and nuts.
Soak in diluted vinegar.
Pour 1 cup of white vinegar into a tub of tepid water and soak yourself in it. This can help reduce the pain.
Spread on fresh aloe vera gel
(fresh as in from the plant itself—not the green jelly stuff they sell at the store, because that’s usually loaded with drying alcohol). Aloe soothes your skin with anti-inflammatory properties. Also, comfrey lotion or juice from the stem of comfrey leaves can help; it contains allantoin, which is skin-cell regenerative.
Other Ways to Speed the Healing
Flaxseed oil, when taken orally, has essential fatty acids that nurture the nerve cells (pain receptors) and act as an anti-inflammatory to decrease sunburn pain. Flaxseed oil also helps keep skin supple and flexible. Another vitamin to take plenty of is vitamin C, which is necessary for collagen production and can speed healing; you can use this both topically and orally. You can also take a zinc supplement or eat zinc-rich pumpkin seeds to speed tissue repair.
Bathing a little painful? Throw some fresh olive oil right into the bath water; it will soothe and comfort your aching skin. Be careful not to use products that are heavily scented and perfumed at this time, as they could cause your skin to react negatively, making a painful situation worse
Sunburn-Relief Recipes
Mix 2 teaspoons of tomato juice and 4 tablespoons of buttermilk and apply to burn.
Leave this mixture on for half an hour and wash off.
Mix olive oil with some vinegar and apply before bathing.
Make a paste of barley, turmeric, and yogurt in equal proportions. Apply it over the
areas of sunburn for relief.
A thin application of sandalwood essential oil applied to the sunburn area is beneficial.
Apply slices of onion or peeled cucumber on forehead for a cooling effect
