No matter where you live you have probably experience a nasty sunburn. Living in Los Angeles the number one hysterical phone call I get is about how to treat a sunburn. I will save my lecture on using and re-applying a good SPF for another article because even I—Miss do gooder, never leave home without the sunscreen—have been known to get a nasty burn!
The when, why, and how of treating a sunburn all depend on the severity of the burn so the first thing you need to do is assess the situation. If you have burned to the point of blistering you need to see a doctor RIGHT AWAY. No if, and, or but! GO to the doctor.
If you are pink or red but have no blisters the first thing you need to do is take a cool bath or shower. Don’t soap yourself up. An alkaline soap is the last thing your skin needs. Instead treat it gently. By applying cool water the burn will feel better and it stops it from getting worse. If you have to use cool compresses that’s fine too. Just make sure you get cool water on the burned area ASAP! Do NOT use cold water. This will traumatize the skin.
The next step is product. The products I like best are:
Epicuren’s Aloe Vera gel. It is 100% pure Aloe that has been stripped of cinoil irritants and infused with Asymmetric Oxygen, which oxygenates the skin cells to promote cellular healing and calming. If you can’t find this Aloe use one from a natural food store that has no added color. Aloe gel is clear not green! Also make sure your Aloe gel is new. The bottle you bought last years has probably lost its potency, so buy a new one.
Epicuren’s Propolis Gel or Lotion. Propolis comes from bees in the Rainforests of Brazil and has recently been proven by doctors and scientists to help build immunity and resistance toward infections, ulcers, viruses, stress, burns, fungi and other harmful agents. Epicuren’s formula is extra penetrating and of the highest quality. Propolis Lotion is primarily for the body and is an excellent for burns because it heals, moisturizes, and fights cancer.
Epicuren’s Noni Gel. Known for its legendary healing properties, Noni Gel is made from the nectar of a tropical fruit grown in the mineral rich volcanic soil of Hawaii. Noni is great for treating sunburn and windburn. It is soothing, healing, and halts burns in their tracks.
Solarcaine. You can get this at just about any drug store these days. This product contains Lidocaine Hydrochloride (0.5%) which numbs the area and makes the burn feel better. I never recommend using this product alone because it isn’t really meant to heal as much as soothe.
Many skin care therapists offer body treatments with these products. During the summer this is my most popular body treatment for obvious reasons. 🙂
If you can’t find these products, or someone to do a body treatment then make sure the alternate products you choose are water based and don’t have much alcohol. You also want something very light that won’t stop the skin from breathing. Heavy creams and old remedies like butter and toothpaste just make burns worse. Easy home remedies that are safe to make burns feel better are white vinegar baths or compresses, green tea baths or compresses, and 100% pure lavender oil mixed with water. All of these remedies help relieve the burn, but don’t heal them as well as the above Epicuren items.
The final step for taking care of burns is after care.
Do not peel the skin. I know it’s fun, but it can be damaging to the live skin underneath. The dead skin hasn’t come off yet because it is protecting the living skin underneath.
Keep applying water based and gel moisturizers to the area. Once the burning subsides you can also use a good quality olive or jojoba oil for hydration, but if you are still red or tender use the water based moisturizers.
You may lightly scrub the dead skin off in the shower once peeling begins, but LIGHTLY is the key word here!
Keep the area totally covered when in the sun from the day you get the sunburn until at least two weeks after the peeling has completely stopped. That new skin will burn quickly and you have a greater risk of damaging it permanently.
Now I will step on my soap box for a moment to say the best way to treat a sunburn is to NOT GET ONE. So use a 30-45 SPF when you know you are going to be out in the sun and re-apply the thing every 2-3 hours.