Comments on: How to heal a sunburn?

Question: How to heal a sunburn?

alitorbati — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:05:18 -0800

How do I deal with a horrible sunburn? It's so bad that my shoulders have second degree burns and it hurts to move my arms. Is there a way to lessen the pain or somehow make my skin heal faster? I got the burn on Friday and have been applying aloe vera ever since.

By: metahawk

metahawk — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:08:21 -0800

Take advil - it will reduce the inflammation and the pain

By: LoriFLA

LoriFLA — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:09:46 -0800

Take a pain reliever, like ibuprofen. You might need to see a doctor. Have you seen a doctor? It's Monday. I'm thinking you should see a medical professional. I hope you feel better. Be careful.

By: fairytale of los angeles

fairytale of los angeles — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:10:47 -0800

The Mayo Clinic agrees with taking aspirin (if you can) or an NSAID (Advil, Motrin, Aleve, what have you).

Also, try cool compresses and keep up with the aloe vera. Put Bacitracin or Neosporin on any broken blisters.

By: schroedinger

schroedinger — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:14:44 -0800

I have had this more than once. Cool compresses and showers, aloe vera, neosporin. In retrospect, I should have gone to the doctor and you should too.

Also, when the inevitable peeling begins, I found those half-scrubby/half-sponge sponges you use in the kitchen are dead useful. Scrubby side takes off the dead skin, sponge side wipes the bits away.

By: Listener

Listener — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:18:43 -0800

I find that opening some vitamin E gelcaps and massaging the oil in is very helpful -- but I always do it right away. Not sure if it's helpful 3 days later, but if it were me I would give it a shot. Use plenty.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:19:19 -0800

What everyone else said, aloe aloe aloe, plus cool compresses, showers, and ibuprofen. Then try carefully applying Bag Balm on the blisters. It will help with both the pain and the healing skin. Good luck!

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:22:47 -0800

Yes, go to the doctor.

Until then stick with the aloe and do try something like Advil.

This worked when I was a kid and got a bad sunburn: wet a thin towel and drape it across your shoulders and back. Then sit in front of a fan. It really will help suck the heat out.

Ouch! Just thinking about a bad sun burn brings up lots of bad memories. Sorry you're dealing with this! :-(

By: phunniemee

phunniemee — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:23:38 -0800

Nthing the taking of advil, and keep heaping on the aloe. Most importantly, though, resist the urge to peel your skin off when it starts to peel, just let it do it on its own. 8 years ago (geez, has it been that long?) I got a terrible, terrible sunburn that caused my chest and back to blister, which was just awful. My little brother, in his infinite wisdom, came up to me when I was finally starting to shed and peeled off a big hunk of skin. I still have a scar (scar!) this many years later exactly where it was. Sun blisters are no joke. There's not really much you can do but be miserable and wait it out. I found that cool baths also helped to relieve a lot of the pain.

I don't know if you were using sunscreen, but my really bad burn happened while wearing 45 spf Bullfrog brand stuff. Turns out that my body needs a physical sunblock lotion rather than chemical. In the future, try using a sunblock that has either zinc or titanium dioxide in it, since it's got particles in it that are made to reflect the sun. Steer clear of the [prefix]benzones.

By: pearlybob

pearlybob — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:30:32 -0800

Get several large tea bags and put them in a cool bath. The tannins will help sooth the burn. Put the wet bags directly on any parts that are really blistered. Sounds crazy but it does help. Also, take some advil.

By: Static Vagabond

Static Vagabond — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:30:40 -0800

Run a cool bath, fill it with moisturiser oils, get some beer or wine to phase out your nerves, some good music or a book and sit in the bath until you're well past the prune stage-- it'll be calming because it's cool and obviously your skin is free to absorb any moisture it cares to. When you get out, just pat dry, or stand next to a fan for glorious relief.

Also, in a day or two you'll be over the initial pain that you're going through (hopefully) at that time, keep an alarm reminder every couple of hours to reapply moisturiser-- it's so easy to forget or assume you're over the worst.
If you don't remember your skin will be screaming for moisture but not in much pain, but as soon as you put any cream on, it'll send your nerves into absolute overdrive that's essentially torture. Don't go there.

In my experience, aloe tends to build up a film on your skin, so when I'm burnt I often alternate aloe with water to clean that film off, then I'll reapply the aloe-- seems to help and makes you feel less.. sticky..

Best of luck to you, hope you're over it soon.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:45:36 -0800

In addition to advil, use a topical lotion with a local anesthetic -- basically, anything ending with -caine. There used to be an Americaine on the market that was good for sunburns. You could also get neosporin with added benzocaine. (I *think* it's benzocaine. It's one of those.)

By: scody

scody — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:57:19 -0800

Vinegar is an old folk remedy (I learned about it as a kid from Archie comics, of all places!), though I think it's most effective if you use it within the first 48 hours of a burn. But it should still take some of the sting out between applications of aloe and doses of ibuprofen, if you don't mind smelling like a tossed salad till it dries. Put it in a spray bottle (white or apple cider vinegar's fine -- dilute it with a little water if you prefer) and spritz it on.

By: version control

version control — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:05:51 -0800

Seconding the tea method. When I was about 14 I got blisters from a bad sunburn over my entire back, and tea bags packed on them helped a lot. Use black tea for this- the cheap kind is fine. Sitting in a tea bath as suggested above or soaking towels in strong, cold tea and then putting them on your shoulders will accomplish the same thing, but probably less effectively. Depending on how long you leave the tea on you, this will temporarily stain your skin tea colored due to the tannin, so don't panic if/when that happens.

By: whatisish

whatisish — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:31:45 -0800

Dittoing the above, particularly lots n lots of heaping aloe. Solarcaine is a nice topical too since it's an aerosol and doesn't have to be rubbed on. Having experienced the same, I couldn't stand the pain of a shower. Room temp baths worked better for me.

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:38:05 -0800

Try applying Noxema (the original creamy kind) to the outer areas (not the blisters). It will take the feeling of "heat" out of your skin.

By: amyms

amyms — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:38:44 -0800

Oops, spelled it wrong. It's Noxzema.

By: shiny blue object

shiny blue object — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:15:00 -0800

In addition to all of the above, drink a lot of water or sports drink. Big surface burns like this dehydrate you.

By: Carol Anne

Carol Anne — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:17:46 -0800

Take tepid baths with 1/2 pound of baking soda mixed in. Don't rinse off. Asprin and fluids.

By: Lyn Never

Lyn Never — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:18:32 -0800

Use a spray with *caine in it, or a lotion if you can stand it. Solarcaine is my favorite brand, but harder to find these days.

I thought that Aloe was ruled out years ago as being slightly more effective than water and possibly worse, trapping the heat in the skin, and too prone to make clothing/bedding adhere to skin. As an ingredient, it's okay, but I wouldn't use it straight. Use something that doesn't cake/get gunky so badly, and with Vitamin E. You can use ice packs, but you want to put so much fabric between ice and skin that it only feels cool, not cold.

Aspirin if you can, naproxen or ibuprofen if aspirin's no good. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) does not reduce swelling, but if you can't have NSAIDS it'll help the pain some. Fast treatment of the swelling would have mitigated the damage a lot more, and you may find you still feel bruised for a week or more after the pinkness fades. Be really careful about bra straps and bag straps or anything else you carry over your shoulder - let that deep skin heal as unmolested as you can, or you may end up with longer-term pain and scarring.

By: Medieval Maven

Medieval Maven — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:26:59 -0800

Last time I had a bad burn I did the cool showers+ibuprofen thing, but also MOISTURIZE. Cetaphil, Aveeno, or a good cocoa butter lotion. Topical lidocaine is your friend and will make the pain less for a while - they make neosporin+pain or generic neosporin+pain.

By: Houstonian

Houstonian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:31:58 -0800

Hydrocortisone cream (1%, available over the counter at the pharmacy) works wonders. I learned about this after a terrible sunburn at Key West, from the pharmacist. It literally saved my vacation.

By: mistsandrain

mistsandrain — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:58:18 -0800

When you start to heal- an insane amount of itching will set in. Benedryl.

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:12:45 -0800

Yar, doctor for sure. I got some horrible sunburn as a child and got a shot of something and a few perscriptions which made living bearable.

By: candyland

candyland — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:15:11 -0800

Banana Boat makes Sooth-a-Caine, a spray-on aloe vera gel with lidocaine and menthol. It's wonderful.

By: kimdog

kimdog — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:35:35 -0800

After several blistering burns as a child (hey, it was the 70's), I have two home remedies that I remember working- yogurt and shredded potatoes. I would lay on my stomach, and my mom would slather either yogurt or shredded potatoes over my back and leave it for 15 minutes or so. I would say pretty thickly... like a quarter of an inch of yogurt or half an inch of potatoes. It really sucked the heat out and reduced the pain. And it was so freaking silly, it always cheered me up.

By: gjc

gjc — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:53:14 -0800

Be careful with the moisturizer you use- some of them are formulated to slough off dead skin particles. For me, anything with oatmeal does this. Make me peel, might do the same for you which wouldn't be a good plan for treating damaged skin. You probably want something old-school like Neosporin. Seals in the moisture, has antiseptics so you don't get infections. I also find that using it reduces scarring. Also, aspirin over NSAIDs, if you can.

By: trixare4kids

trixare4kids — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:20:50 -0800

Chiming in late here.

For the smaller areas that hurt, I HIGHLY recommend 2nd Skin Burn Pads

I had a very bad burn on my leg from a motorcycle accident and I kept these on all the time. It keeps the area cool and constantly hydrated. The pain was very tolerable and the burn healed quickly with very minimal scarring. I swear by them for any small burns.

I do realize that this product is a bit small for a large area sunburn, but it would help for a few places that might be chafing against a shirt or something.

By: alitorbati

alitorbati — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:46:37 -0800

Thanks for the help, everyone

By: workerant

workerant — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:59:01 -0800

I got a gollywhopper of a sunburn across my back when I was in high school. My doctor wrote me some silver nitrate cream and a bottle of hydrocodone - I guess he figured that he might as well sedate me for the worst of it.

aside: I got so stoned on that stuff I actually watched Shanghai Surprise. It really was as bad as they said, but I didn't care.

By: alitorbati

alitorbati — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:02:36 -0800

for future reference, I ended up using a ton of aloe vera gel and applying wet towels. After about a week and a half of paing and a few days of horrible peeling i was all back to normal. Thanks again.