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Sunburn....How to Soothe and Care for it.

Getting a sunburn looks and feels bad by hurting, peeling and inflicts long-lasting, wrinkle-inducing damage. It is especially bad for children: even 1 blistering burn may double their lifetime risk of melanoma. The pain, redness, and occasional blistering that you experience when you have a sunburn happens because you exposed your skin to more sun than it was designed to handle.

Sunburns are totally preventable with sunscreen, shade, and clothing. The burn tells you that you have both damaged your DNA and skin cells, and for this, there is no fix. You can relieve the symptoms of inflammation a little with proper care, but you cannot do anything to undo the DNA and cell damage. Mistakes can happen, and there are ways to ease the pain and maybe limit the damage.

This means that the most important form of treatment for a sunburn is prevention; once the UV rays start damaging your skin, a complex inflammatory process has already begun that ends in redness and discomfort...and there is no going back. If you feel the tell-tale tingling of a burn or see any sign of skin reddening on yourself or your child, get out of the sun and start treatment. Sunburns tend to sneak up on you and can take 4 to 6 hours for symptoms to develop. So a touch of pink at the beach can turn into a big problem later on.

Simple Steps that can Relieve the Discomfort of a Sunburn:
  • The best thing to help lessen the redness and discomfort of a sunburn is to start taking aspirin. This will help fight some forms of inflammation, but they need to taken prior to or immediately after the sun exposure before the redness has gotten really bad. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can relieve sunburn swelling and pain all over your body, along with prevent some long-term skin damage.
  • Topical cortisone creams applied to the red skin within 6 hours can provide a little relief too. (speak to a doctor first prior to buying and applying)
  • Moisturizers should be applied within 3 minutes after toweling off from a cool water bath or shower to keep skin soothed and hydrated, but peeling will still most likely occur in about a week. Repeat frequently to make peeling and flaking less noticeable. And consider a product containing Vitamin C and Vitamin E, which may help limit skin damage, although studies have not been proven.
  • Pure aloe vera gel can soothe inflamed skin. Never use one with a topical anesthetic ingredient, such as Benzocaine or Lidocaine, because they can cause an allergic skin rash. To take the sting out of our sunburn, gently rub on a cream or gel containing ingredients such as Menthol, Camphor, or Aloe. Refrigerate the cream or gel prior to applying to make it feel better on your sunburn.
  • Apply cold compress to your skin or take a cool bath to soothe the burn.
  • Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and other fluids so that you don't become dehydrated.
  • Avoid the sun until your sunburn has healed.
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