3 Tips For Easing A Sunburn

If you spent an excessive amount of time in the sun and forgot to use sunscreen, you will most likely experience a sunburn. Not only are sunburns painful and unappealing, but they can also be dangerous. As a matter of fact, the more sunburns you have, the more damage you have done to your skin, which increases your risk of developing skin cancer. Although this skin damage and cancer risk are serious concerns, easing the pain of your sunburn will also be necessary. Here are a few tips to ease your sunburn.

Cool

If you have just recently realized you have a sunburn, try to cool off your skin as soon as possible. For example, if you are leaving at the end of a long day at the beach or by the pool, pop into the water for a quick dip to cool off your skin. Then, cover up and get out of the sun.

If you did not realize you have a sunburn until at home and already out of the sun, apply a few cold compresses to different areas of the skin to cool down. A quick cold shower can also be beneficial.

Exposing the skin to cool temperatures after a sunburn helps reduce redness and swelling, easing any inflammation, reducing permanent damage, and numbing some of your discomforts.

Moisturize

The last thing most people want to do after they have developed a sunburn is to touch their skin because of the pain. However, applying moisturizer is key to preventing the burned area of the skin from becoming too dry, which will make the sunburn even more painful.

Apply an after sun lotion moisturizer to all areas that have been burned by the sun. Make sure the moisturizer does not contain any oil or petroleum products, which could actually worsen the sunburn and discomfort.

Use gentle motions to massage the moisturizer into the skin. Allow it to sit and soak through the burned skin's surface before dressing. Continue applying the moisturizer each day until your sunburn heals.

Medicate

Easing discomfort and helping the damaged surface of the skin heal will be important, but you should also consider medicating to ease inflammation.

Once you realize you have developed a sunburn, take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen or aspirin, are both effective for easing away pain, inflammation, and swelling.

Applying a cortisone cream to damaged areas of the skin can also be helpful for numbing the pain.