Sunburns

[rogueprincess20]

My husband had a organizational day at work today and we were outside from 10am till 4:30 pm and not thinking I did not bring sunscreen. I thought there would be more shade and I didnt know it was going to be so long and now I am burnt EVERYWHERE. My face my legs my feet my shoulders and upper back arms i think even my hands got it too.

Basically I am wondering if anyone has any secrets for soothing it. I have aloe gel and plan on putting it on often but I am burnt so bad I think it might blister.

[Eliste]

I did this to myself on monday too! I am also, sadly, a very old hack at sunburns what with my mother's redhead complexion.

Aloe, repeatedly. Anytime its starting to hurt, aloe it til it calms down, even if that was 15 minutes ago. You don't so much have to rub it in either, just heaping it on and letting it settle will do it.

Take a lukewarm bath. Seriously. By the time you get out, your skin will have heated the water up and it'll feel a bit better. If the water is properly warm when you go in, though, it'll hurt so make sure its no warmer than lukewarm. You could go with cold if you can stand it (I can't). It works for me everytime. I do this at least once a day til things calm down. Once I'm no longer heating up the bath with my burn heat I know I'm on the mend. Just pat yourself dry, don't rub and then aloe after.

Also, make sure you're not using an aloe product, but the actual aloe gel- the greeny kinda see-through stuff. If its an aloe-based lotion, don't go there. In fact, don't put ANY lotions on til this clears up- including makeup remover etc.

Lastly- you probably will want to wear the same clothes you got burnt in as much as possible. It probably goes without saying, but don't go outside unless the burn is fully covered up (but DON'T put any sunscreen on it, that will burn so badly!), but when you're at home, change into whatever gave you those tan-lines. You'll avoid chafing the skin that way.

[rogueprincess20]

Thank you so much for going into detail. I have a very fair complexion, my husband calls me porcelain white. I am usually really good about remembering my spf 50 sunscreen but just wasnt thinking today.

I did get the aloe-gel too glad I got the right kind. I will be taking every single bit of advice so again thank you.

I knew these boards were awesome and good for EVERYTHING.

[Eliste]

Also, I highly recommend wearing natural, breathable clothing. Jeans will probably hurt. Keep it light and airy, but full coverage if you're venturing out.

And if doing anything causes you more pain, stop.

[Eliste]

PS- Drink tons of water.

[kuja.girl]

Not sure if this works with sunburns (I try to avoid them as I am also very pale and both parents have had skin cancer) but an oatmeal bath could be very soothing. I used them when I had a horrible rash and they managed to bring down the irritation a bit and moisturize my skin.

Otherwise Eliste gave some great tips - try to wear clothes with the same cut to avoid irritating the burn and wear light and breathable clothing when you can't.

[Ally]

That sucks! I too am incredibly pale and burn after about 5 minutes in the sun so I try to avoid it but I know exactly how you feel! The biggest thing that helped was to take some paracetamol/whatever over the counter pain killer you can buy if it's particularly painful, use this stuff called an after sun soothing spray (it's almost like an ice spray and feels awesome on sunburn, but you need to apply it often), and ice packs! Drink lots of water and don't go out in the sun again for a while if you can help it. I hope it gets better quickly!

[Icelandic Hitman]

As an Australian I can vouch for Vitamin E cream, or anything with lots of it in it. Helps repair the skin faster, just don't rub it in, let it naturally absorb. Cucumber slices are also nice apparently.

[BooChocoBoom]

Cucumber slices are also nice apparently.

That. I will re-iterate the aloe gel - we keep ours in the fridge.

[Pyper]

As a red haired, blue eyed, glow-in-the-dark white skinned Aussie I reccommend Aloevera. Preferably sqeezed straight out of the leaves, but I guess gel would work too. Otherwise cold shower/bath, and from memory I think stingos type numbing creams help (the ones for insect bites)