A sunburn can often feel very uncomfortable, sore, or painful, which is you should know about at home sunburn relief tips and ideas. Being aware of at home sunburn relief strategies that work will help your sunburn heal faster, and you’ll also experience less pain and discomfort from the sunburn.
A sunburn is red, inflamed, sore areas of skin that often feel warm to touch, and are also sensitive or painful to touch.
Some of the causes of a sunburn include being in the sun for way too long, forgetting to put on sunscreen, not using a strong enough SPF, forgetting a hat, etc.
The UV rays from the sun damage skin cells, especially if you forget to put on (or reapply) your sunscreen and you’re in the sun for a prolonged period of time.
It may take days for a sunburn to heal, and you should try to stay out of the sun during this time. You can soothe the sunburnt skin by cooling it or using products that are calming, soothing and cooling on the skin.
Below are some at home sunburn relief tips, for when you’re suffering from a sunburn at home:
1. Wear Loose, Soft Clothing to Prevent Irritation
Your sunburn could start to hurt even more if you’re wearing tight clothing. Loose loungewear made of soft and soothing fabrics such as bamboo or soft cotton blends are ideal clothes to wear when you have a sunburn.
You need to let the wounded skin heal, and it heals faster when it can breathe and is not irritated or constricted by tight clothing.
2. Apply Moisturizer for At Home Sunburn Relief
Applying moisturizer daily is great for at home sunburn relief. Hydrate your skin and help it heal, but don’t use the wrong kind of moisturizer. Be sure to use moisturizer that is marketed for ‘sensitive skin’ because that way it’ll likely be free of harsh fragrances or other added ingredients that could irritate a sunburn. Applying the moisturizer should feel soothing, and it should be a form of instant sunburn relief at home.
3. Cool Down Your Skin with a Cool Shower or Cool Bath Water
One of the best at home sunburn relief tips is to run a bath of cool water. Not freezing cold, but cool. Soak in the cool bath for about 20 minutes. Ensure the sunburnt areas of your skin are fully submerged in the clean, cool water. This will soothe the inflamed skin and speed up the healing process. Try to have at least one cool bath per day. If you don’t have a bathtub, a cool shower is soothing on a sunburn as well.
For additional at home sunburn relief, try adding a cup of raw oats to your cool bath water. Oats are known for soothing irritated skin. Any burning or itching sensations of a sunburn can be eased with a cool oat bath.
Raw oats are just another household item that can be used for at home sunburn relief.
4. Apply Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is one of those tried-and-true natural sunburn remedies that truly works wonders on sunburnt skin. Aloe vera makes for a great at home sunburn relief strategy, especially if you have an aloe vera plant in your home.
Aloe vera has been used as a healing plant for centuries. You can buy aloe vera gel at the drugstore or at some grocery stores, but you can also get it directly from the plant.
Simply break a piece of the plant off, and the aloe vera gel will ooze out of the plant. Then you can apply it on the areas of your skin that are suffering from a sunburn for instant sunburn relief at home.
Aloe vera not only feels cooling and soothing on a sunburn, but it’s also a substance known to reduce inflammation. Furthermore, this substance helps stimulate the production of collagen which speeds up the skin healing process.
5. Drink Plenty of Water
Your damaged skin needs lots of water to heal. If you spent too long in the sun, you’re likely dehydrated anyway, and you need to drink a lot of water anyway. However, drinking plenty of water (more than the recommended 8 glasses per day) will also help your skin heal faster.
6. Apply Cold Compresses to the Affected Areas
About once per hour, you should apply a cold compress to the sunburnt skin to help soothe the pain, soreness or discomfort.
Some people have store-bought cold compresses they keep in their fridge. However, you can also make a cold compress for at home sunburn relief by simply getting a hand towel wet with cold water, putting it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to get it a bit cooler, and then applying it to your sore skin.
You should never apply ice to a sunburn, but a cold compress is a great at-home remedy.
7. Try Coconut Oil
Since coconut oil has many uses, such as for hair health, oil pulling, moisturizing, and more – it’s likely that many of you have coconut oil at home.
If you have any organic coconut oil at home, you can apply it to soothe your sunburn only after the sunburn has stopped blistering. This means that coconut oil should mainly be used near the end of the healing process.
Try a test patch of coconut oil on a small patch of skin first, to ensure your skin responds positively to it. It’s not recommended to put coconut oil on your face.
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Aside from the pain and discomfort of a sunburn, the even bigger reason to be careful with sun exposure is for skin cancer prevention reasons.
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