How to Treat Sunburns

It is important to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays. This means applying sunscreen regularly and staying away from the sun for as much as you can. What if despite your best efforts, you still sustain sun damage, like in the form of a sunburn? Believe it or not, sunburns are exactly what they are – burns. Sunburns are the immediate result of your skin being damaged by prolonged sun exposure. You should avoid getting sunburned, as they can do deeper damage in the long run. If you do get one, here’s how you should treat sunburns:

  • A cool shower or bath – Do this to immediately help with the pain. It won’t make the sunburn go away but what you want to do first is to stop the stinging sensation and provide some relief. A compress with cool water should also help. Getting into a milk bath also helps as milk has anti-inflammatory properties.
  • Pain management – To continue with pain management, you can take a reliever like Advil or to feel better. This also reduces the inflammation and the swelling.
  • Staying hydrated – Your body overheats from getting a sunburn, and drinking water can keep your body temperature down. It’s important to stay hydrated when you’ve gotten a really bad sunburn.
  • Cover up – This should be done by default, but stay away from the sun until your burn has healed. Because of the burn, your skin becomes a lot more sensitive to the sun’s rays and can be further damaged if you keep exposing it outside.
  • Moisturize – Do this the right way, as in do not overmoisturize. If you overmoisturize, the barrier created by the cream can actually trap the heat beneath your skin, slowing down the healing process overall. You want to use a lightweight lotion, and you want to re-apply regularly.
  • Don’t peel the skin – Definitely stay away from trying to peel off the layers of burned skin. When your skin starts peeling, this means that the redness is gone and the new layers are starting to surface. Let your skin peel on its own, as peeling the skin yourself might result in removing layers that are not ready to come off.