Old Home Remedies For Natural Hints, Tips and Remedies for a Green Healthy Life Style.

Natural Sunburn Remedies

The best way of dealing with sunburn naturally is to prevent sunburn occurring by staying indoors, keeping out of direct sunlight for anything more than the shortest period of time whilst staying in the shade as much as possible, wearing a suitable hat and a shirt or t-shirt, etc.

So, you know all this and yet there is still a good chance that you will suffer sunburn at some stage because however much we know about ‘sunshine safety’, we all make mistakes from time to time (and I willingly include myself in this group).

 Natural Sunburn Remedies – What Should You Know?

For example, whilst it is something of an apocryphal seaside postcard and TV comedy show standby, people really do fall asleep in the sun and there is many an individual who still has the painful memories (and perhaps even in the most unfortunate cases, the scars) to prove it.

This brings us to the first important point about sunburn that you must take on board. Whilst this chapter is going to highlight many natural remedies for mild or minor sunburn, if you suffer serious sunburn, you need to seek medical attention.

As a general rule, the effects of sunburn will start to become painfully apparent anywhere between one hour and four hours after you have come inside and if during that time you begin to notice (or suspect) anything other ‘normal’ sunburn pain, you should get to the doctor as quickly as you can see to seek professional advice.

Whilst it would be possible in a perfect world to treat every medical condition, no matter how severe or serious it is in a completely natural way, it is an unfortunate fact that this is just not the way the world is. There are times when you need to seek medical attention, and if you have reason to suspect that your sunburn could be serious, this would be a perfect example.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Quick Action

If for instance you feel lightheaded, disorientated or dizzy, this may be a sign of serious sunburn or even sunstroke. Similarly, if the burned area starts coming up in blisters very quickly, you have a serious case of sunburn and there is also the risk of infection if any of the blisters bursts or starts to weep, so you must get to the consulting room or surgery as soon as possible.

Natural Sunburn Remedies

 If it is not so serious…

 Fortunately for most people who suffer sunburn, their condition is not particularly serious, although there is no doubt that it is not particularly pleasant either.

Nevertheless, unless you really overdo the sunbathing or tanning booth sessions, it is not that likely that your sunburn condition is going to cause any serious or long-term medical problems. Consequently, this will generally mean that you can deal with the problem yourself or with help from a friend or family member.

If the reason that you have been exposed to the sun is because you are attempting to acquire a suntan and assuming that you are a fair skinned individual, then a slight redness to your skin after you have finished indicates that you are going in the right direction.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Special Tips

However, if your skin continues to become increasingly red after you have finished your sun session and the pain or itching from that particular skin area inexorably increases, then you may have overdone it and burned yourself.

Really, the major giveaway here is the pain because pain is your body’s way of telling you that you have overdone it or that something has gone seriously wrong with some part of your body. In other words, pain is a messenger and the more pain there is, the more you need to pay attention to the message.

If you have been burned or even if you suspect that you might have before the onset of pain confirms your suspicions, one of the first things that you can do to attempt to relieve the situation is take a nice cool shower.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Shower

As you will probably know if you have ever suffered sunburn, an area of the skin that has been burnt by the sun feels hot to the touch and a cool shower can help to reduce this heat.

Natural Sunburn Remedies with Shower – Safety Tips

However, if the burned area is already becoming painful, you should avoid using a shower that throws out water at too high a pressure as the impact of the water on the burned area could make the pain worse.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Cool Bath

Another ‘first reaction’ option is to take a cool bath as immersing yourself in almost cold water can again alleviate the stinging, itching sensation that is a common side-effect of sunburn.

In my experience, either immersing yourself in a cool bath or taking a cool shower as soon as you come inside from the sun (or return from the tanning salon) serves another extremely important purpose as well.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Water

One of the most unpleasant side-effects of suffering sunburn is that the burned skin dies and ultimately peels off, which in a worst case scenario can lead to permanent scarring. Cool water helps to reduce this which is another reason to use this as a first line of defense strategy if sunburn is starting to become evident or it looks like it might later on in the day or evening.

A further variation on the idea of using water to calm your sunburn problem is to add a cup of baking soda to a lukewarm bath before soaking in the water for 30 minutes or so. Many people report that this is a very effective way of taking the heat out of sunburn, thereby reducing the inevitable pain that is associated with the condition.

Natural Sunburn Remedies –  Aloe Vera

Another very commonly used natural solution that is recommended for dealing with sunburn is to apply aloe vera to the burned area. Whilst this plant extract is very effective for cooling and soothing sunburned areas of your body, you do need to make sure that the product you are using is very high in aloe vera itself and that it not just a trace of aloe vera made up with lanolin (or something like it) as many products are.

This is important because there is some evidence that whilst lanolin helps to cool the burned area in the initial stages, it can actually exacerbate the pain later once your body has warmed the solution.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Sunburn Sprays

Hence, you should avoid lanolin-based sunburn sprays and creams and you must read the label if you buy an aloe vera product to ensure that it is as near to being pure aloe vera cream or gel as possible. In fact, the best aloe vera sunburn solution is to use the leaves and stalk of the plant itself to alleviate the pain and itching by breaking them to release the soothing extract before applying that broken plant section directly to the burned area.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Milk compress

Some people who have suffered sunburn swear by the idea of using a milk compress to soothe the pain on the basis that the fat and lactic acid in full fat milk combine very effectively to relieve the pain. In this scenario, you soak a suitably sized soft cloth in cold milk before dabbing the cloth on the burned area before rinsing the burned area with cool water and drying it.

However, when you dry it, do so with a gentle dabbing motion rather than rubbing it with the towel as this will irritate the skin. Also note that this only works with full fat milk as the fat seems to be a vital ingredient in the soothing property of this strategy.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Yoghurt

Cool fresh yoghurt straight from the fridge is another sunburn solution that many people find to be very effective. In this case, it is a question of applying the yoghurt to the burned area for 10 or 15 minutes before rinsing it off with cool water. As a variation, you might like to try adding cucumber to the mixture as this is said to enhance the pain and irritation soothing qualities of the yoghurt.

And if there is no fresh yoghurt available in the fridge, mayonnaise may serve a similar purpose and can be used in the same way.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Tea

Tea is another liquid that is said to bring relief to mild to moderate sunburn. In this case, make a strong brew of tea by using several teabags and boiling the water until it turns a rich, strong brown. At this point, remove the tea from the heat and allow it to cool to lukewarm before soaking a towel in the liquid. Next, apply the soaked towel to the burned area, making sure that there is another towel in the appropriate position to catch the drips, as the strong tea does have the capacity to cause stains.

Although the tea is slightly lukewarm, most people who have tried this solution report that when it is applied to a sunburned area, it feels extremely cool and soothing.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Tea Soaked Towel

Consequently, you could leave the tea soaked towel in situ for 30 minutes, although if pain relief starts to dissipate, you can re-soak it in the lukewarm solution before re-applying. It is believed that the sunburn soothing qualities of this tea method is a result of the amount of tannins in the drink, but whatever the reason is, it seems to work.

Aromatherapy for Sunburn

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Lavender Essential Oil

Applying essential oil of lavender is another sunburn solution that many people swear by. Indeed, it is sometimes suggested that lavender will draw the pain out of slightly more serious sunburn as well, although in this case, you probably need to avoid touching the burned area as skin to skin contact is likely to hurt.

Instead, drip the oil onto the burned area and gently spread it using a tissue instead of your fingers. Allow the oil to do its work for 30 minutes or so and you should find that the pain from the burn has decreased noticeably or even disappeared altogether.

Natural Sunburn Remedies – Homemade Essential Oil Recipes

Another essential oil solution that you might want to try is to mix one part tea tree oil with 10 parts olive oil (or another appropriate carrier oil and) before soaking a soft cloth to dab the mixture onto the burned area. The healing and soothing qualities of tea tree oil have been relied upon by the indigenous peoples of Australia as a cure for a wide range of medical conditions for hundreds (or more likely, thousands) of years.

The qualities of this oil have become increasingly widely recognized as it is now established that it has strong antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic qualities, all of which will help to minimize the pain and damage caused by sunburn.