At least one time every summer, my sensitive Ohio skin gets too much exposure to the sun and I am left looking like a lobster and with the attitude of a disgruntled lion. Nothing is as frustrating as sunburn, and no matter what I do to avoid it, I still end up fried. For example, I spent the day at the lake last weekend. I wore a baseball cap, I applied sunscreen vigorously, and over four hours, I turned from a human into a tomato. I wasn’t even able to get home before bursting into tears because my skin was on fire, and I’m still a little sore and really, really itchy. Since I spend half of my summer days recovering from sunburn, I thought I’d share my tips on surviving the burn.
1. Aloe
The typical response when you ask someone what you use to help with sunburn is aloe, and there’s a reason for that. It helps in healing sunburns, and it helps moisturize to minimize the dreaded peeling. I always use an aloe with menthol in it to help cool my skin, and I toss it in the fridge for extra coolness.
2. Loose clothing
With my most recent sunburn, my back and waistline were so burnt that I couldn’t wear pants without crying from them digging into my swollen skin. I decided to wear loose dresses and I felt 100% more comfortable, so that was my go-to outfit. But, let me tell you, bras are so hard and someone needs to come up with a sunburn-friendly bra, for my sake at least.
3. Ibuprofen
Take ibuprofen to relieve some of the pain and the swelling associated with the burn. It’ll still hurt, but it hurts less when your skin isn’t throbbing.
4. Water and Gatorade
Re-hydrate the heck out of your body. It’ll make you feel better, and it’ll kinda get you back on track.
5. Epsom Salt Baths
I’m a big fan of Epsom Salts as a healer of all things, so I always take an Epsom Salt bath (in cool water) to draw some of the heat out of my skin and to help with the healing. Just make sure the salts are dissolved before you hop in and scrape the sunburn… been there, done that.
6. Lavender
Lavender is my favorite all-natural healer and anti-inflammatory, so I use it a lot when I’m burnt. I add a few drops to some coconut oil and rub it on my entire body, focusing heavily on the worst areas. The coconut oil works as a carrier, plus it provides added moisture to help prevent peeling and cracking.
7. Cool washcloths
I dunk a few washcloths into a sink full of cool water and lay them across all my most burnt areas. The coolness doesn’t last long because your skin transfers all of the heat to the washcloth, but if you put the wet cloths on your skin and let it air dry or sit by a fan, it helps a lot. This mostly works on a focused area, though.
8. Peppermint lotions, body washes, etc.
Everything peppermint based tends to help with the burn because it has cooling properties, but be sure to test it on a small area just in case there are other things in the product that can hurt rather than help.
9. Cover up
If you’re going to be in the sun again, stay covered. Wear a hat, use an umbrella, walk quickly… just stay as covered as much as you can! Like, my burn was so bad that I couldn’t walk from my car into a store without cringing, but being well covered helps.
Sunburns can be a real pain (literally and figuratively), but you don’t have to let them ruin your summer fun! Just be proactive and know how to react when the burn gets bad.
