Fifteen Natural Sunburn Remedies

When your fun in the sun leaves you with the complexion of a freshly boiled lobster, use one of these 15 natural sunburn remedies for quick relief of pain and accelerated healing. Just be sure to see a doctor if your sunburned skin starts to blister, you experience nausea, or if you cannot stand the pain. 

Mild sunburn can successfully be treated at home, but you need medical attention for severe sunburn, which can lead to serious short and long-term complications.

1. For immediate relief, simply soak your sunburned skin in cold water for up to 15 minutes at a time. (Do not rub the skin with ice, as this may cause cold damage to the skin.) Cold water wicks heat out of the skin and reduces swelling, and you'll feel better right away.
    
2. If you are sunburned all over, you could consider taking a bath in lukewarm water with a powdered oatmeal product such as Aveeno, or just pulse 1/4 cup (about 50 g) of oatmeal through a food processor and add to your bath.
    
3. If you suffer from mild sunburn, you can also brew a pot of green tea and let it cool to room temperature. Soak a clean cloth in the tepid green tea to make a compress you place lightly over sunburned skin for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Green tea is great at fighting inflammation and this remedy offers instant relief.
    
4. To avoid sunburn pain, take Aspirin or Tylenol as soon as you notice the sunburn and as directed for the next 24 hours. The swelling and pain caused by sunburns begins 3 to 4 hours after exposure and peaks 12 hours after the burn.
    
5. Vinegar can help relieve pain, inflammation, and itching. Just don't apply vinegar directly to the skin. Soak a few paper towels in white or cider vinegar and allow them to rest lightly on sunburned areas.
    
6. Try applying an ointment made of St. John's wort on inflamed skin. This herb, usually associated with the relief of depression, contains potent anti-inflammatory compounds. If you are taking St. John's wort internally, however, it makes skin more sensitive to the sun.
    
7. It might sound strange, but you can also sprinkle your sheets with cornstarch to reduce sunburn pain at night. You probably will want to save this method for severe sunburn, since you will have to wash your sheets afterward. This method may sound a little icky, but it really works.
    
8. Lavender oil can be applied directly to the skin to relieve sunburn pain. (Don't drink lavender oil.) You can also combine lavender oil with aloe to stop the pain and accelerate healing. It is recommended that you dilute it with water.
    
9. Homeopathy may also be helpful for sunburned skin. Homeopaths usually recommend the 6 C or 12 C strengths of Belladonna, three pills a day taken for three days.
    
10. Consider wearing sun-protective clothing. Sun-protective clothing has a tighter weave than typical warm-weather clothing by a tighter weave, and usually comes in dark color. Sun-protective outfits are labeled with a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) rating indicating what fraction of the sun’s damaging rays are admitted by the fabric. Clothing with a UPF rating of 20, for example, allows 1/20 of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation to pass. Any garment rated with a UPF of over 50 is labeled as 50+, and blocks at least 98% of UV radiation.
     
11. Carrots and other orange vegetables protect against sunburn. Carrots are excellent dietary sources of beta-carotene, which absorbs the free radicals that damage DNA after it has absorbed excessive ultraviolet radiation. It is necessary to eat the carrots before sun exposure; they are for prevention, not sure. Also, 2 or 3 carrots a day is enough. Excessive consumption of carrots, more than a pound (450 g) a day, can result in carrotinemia, a temporary orange pigmentation of the skin all over the body.
     
12. Tomatoes and other foods rich in lycopene (such as watermelon and shrimp) also protect against sunburn, although they have to be eaten several times a week for about 12 weeks before they begin to help the skin.
    
     
13. Consider treating any burn, including sunburn, with aloe gel. Aloe moisturizes the skin while it relieves inflammation. It contains a number of antioxidant compounds that help stop the formation of "sunburn cells" that destroy the tissues around them. It is rich vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc. Clinical trials have found that burns treated with aloe vera gel health as much as 3 das faster than burns not treated with any medication at all.
     
14. Some people find that take a baby Aspirin a day stops sunburn. There may still be reddening, but the skin may not get itchy or blister. The reason Aspirin helps is that increases circulation in the skin that keeps inflammatory compounds from accumulating after the burn. A single baby Aspirin a day is enough for prevention.
     
15. Natural remedies experts Joe and Teresa Graedon that full-strength Listerine mouthwash, applied to the skin with the help of a spray bottle, can relieve sunburn pain. The eucalyptol and menthol in original-flavor Listerine have cooling properties.

The best way to deal with sunburn, of course, is never to get it at all. What SPF (sun protection factor) will prevent sunburn?

The theory is that the SPF number tells the buyer how many times longer it is possible to stay outdoors if the sunscreen is worn. For example, if you have unusually fair skin and you would ordinarily get a sunburn in 10 minutes, using a sunblock would allow you to stay outside for 10 x 10 or 100 minutes. Using a sunscreen or sunblock with an SPF of 35 would allow you to stay outside for 35 x 10 or 350 minutes.

Read More: Ten Easy Home Remedies For Sunburn

The problem with the SPF system is that, in the real world, sunscreen is washed off the skin by perspiration, rain, wind, or humidity. Sun protection wears off about 1/3 faster than the SPF number suggest. Getting really complete sun protection requires wearing sunscreens or sunblocks of the gooey variety, like the white titanium dioxide creams often seen on lifeguards' noses.

An SPF of 35 or higher, however, still allows staying outside for about 4 hours. Just be sure to reapply two or three times a day—or to avoid sunburn altogether, stay inside!