Sunburn Relief: The Best Sunburn Relief Tips & Treatment
Oops! You left the sunscreen at home or brought it but didn’t realize it was expired. And now your skin’s red and you’re in pain. Send sunburn relief, and send it quick!
There’s no magical potion for getting rid of sunburn, but there are several ways to ease the discomfort and care for your skin so that it heals as quickly as possible. We’re here to give you those tips!
Let’s not waste any more time — you’ve got sunburnt skin to tend to!
13 Tips For Sunburn Relief
We’ve all dealt with sunburn before. There’s nothing worse than coming home from a nice, long day at the beach, taking one look in the mirror, and seeing that you’re red as a lobster.
Sunburn is red, painful skin that’s caused by overexposure to the sun. Repeated sunburn increases your risk of skin damage and even skin cancer, which is why it’s so important to take the proper steps for sun protection, like wearing sunscreen everyday.
But in the event that you inevitably deal with sunburn from time to time, there are fortunately a couple of things you can do to relieve that red, painful skin. Here are 13 of the best sunburn relief tips that we have to offer:
1) Cool Off
Your sunburnt skin is, well, burnt. You may even feel a bit hot or notice that your skin is warm to the touch. Staying cool is key!
One of the best ways to do so is to hop in a cool shower (or bath) or use cold compresses. To easily make a cold compress, soak a washcloth in ice water, wring it out, and lay it on top of your skin. (Ahh, sweet relief!)
The important thing to remember here is to not put ice directly on your skin! It can end up hurting your damaged skin even more. Cool water is the way to go.
2) Cleanse With Gentle Products
If you’ve opted for a cool shower, stay away from soaps and body washes that are full of harsh chemicals or irritating ingredients. Even the one you use every day might not jive with your burnt, extra-sensitive skin.
If your sunburn is particularly painful, you might want to skip soap entirely the first time you shower.
When you do lather up, go with a gentle cleanser, like Babo Botanicals’ Sensitive Baby Fragrance-Free 2-in-1 Baby Shampoo & Wash.
Made with oatmeal, shea butter, and cocoa butter, this fragrance-free soap is specially made for sensitive skin or eczema-prone skin. It’s sulfate-free and helps your skin regain softness and comfort naturally!
3) Pat Dry, Don’t Rub
When you get out of the shower, pat your skin dry. Don’t rub! Always be as gentle as possible with your skin, especially when it is healing from sunburn.
4) Soak In A Colloidal Oatmeal Bath
A good soak in a colloidal oatmeal bath is a common, natural remedy for itching and eczema.
Great news for your sunburn is that this type of bath can calm your toasted skin, especially if you find yourself with an itchy sunburn.
In fact, we believe in colloidal oatmeal so much that we use it in our Moisturizing Oat & Calendula Body Lotion. This extra-gentle moisturizer is so good at soothing delicate and irritated skin we wouldn’t blame you for using it on the whole family!
To achieve sunburn relief from a colloidal oatmeal bath, start by grinding a few handfuls of oats in a clean blender or coffee grinder. Make sure the particles are ground finely enough that they don’t immediately sink to the bottom of the tub.
Run a bath of lukewarm water, add several cups of the ground oats, and voila! You have a colloidal oatmeal bath. Easy, right?
Soak in the bath for at least 10 minutes to enjoy all the goodness that the oats have to offer your skin.
5) Apply After Sun Soothing Hydrating Aloe Gel
Aloe is a well-known remedy for quick relief from the sting of a sunburn. It’s a natural way of cooling and hydrating your skin after sun exposure.
With Babo Botanicals’ After Sun Soothing Hydrating Aloe Gel, your skin will also enjoy the cooling and soothing effects of eucalyptus and green tea! Quick-absorbing and super-hydrating, this gel forms a protective barrier that helps retain moisture and promote skin healing.
Just what your dry, sun-damaged skin needs!
6) Take Ibuprofen
Sunburn can be painful — there’s no doubt about that. In addition to cool baths and aloe gel, take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen if you need more sunburn relief.
In addition to easing some of your discomfort, it can reduce inflammation and swelling from your sunburn, too. Ask your doctor if you’re not sure what medicine you can take.
7) Apply Hydrocortisone Cream
Speaking of medication, hydrocortisone cream can provide much-needed relief for itchy sunburns. Make sure to consult your doctor for any medical advice.
The American Academy of Dermatology says, “If a particular area feels especially uncomfortable, you may want to apply a hydrocortisone cream that you can buy without a prescription. Do not treat sunburn with ‘-caine’ products (such as benzocaine), as these may irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction.”
8) Don’t Pop Or Peel
When you’ve gotten too much sun, your skin will likely start to peel in a few days. And, if your sunburn is severe, you can even develop blisters. The same advice applies to both peeling skin and blisters: don’t touch!
As much as you might want to, avoid peeling your skin. Instead, let it do its thing and the dead skin will slough off when it’s ready.
Similarly, if you have sunburn blisters, don’t pop them! A popped blister is more likely to get infected.
What should you do if you already popped a blister (oops!) or it opened up by itself? Apply antibiotic ointment and cover the area with a bandaid. Watch for signs of infection, such as red streaks or pus.
If you notice what you believe to be an infection, give your doctor a call right away.
9) Stay Out Of The Sun
Post-sunburn, your skin is damaged and extra-sensitive, so give it some sunburn relief by staying out of the sun for now.
If you have to be outside while you’re still recovering from your sunburn, apply sunscreen, wear protective clothing, and follow sun safety guidelines. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that is both effective protecting against the rays of the sun, and safe for your skin and your body.
A mineral sunscreen made with zinc oxide protects against both UVA and UVB rays without harsh, irritating, and harmful chemicals (like oxybenzone and octinoxate)!
Babo Botanicals’ Clear Zinc Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 is fragrance-free and formulated with skin-soothing certified organic oils, making it gentle on sensitive (or already-sunburned) skin and perfect for the whole family — little ones included!
10) Choose Your Clothes Wisely
Depending on where you’ve been burned, the clothes you normally wear might rub uncomfortably against your sensitive skin.
While you’re recovering from your sunburn, choose light, loose clothing.
11) Drink Extra Water
In addition to leaving you with a red burn, the sun also dehydrates your skin in the process. Rehydrate from the inside-out by drinking plenty of water.
If you don’t normally drink those recommended eight glasses of water each day, now is the time to start!
12) Moisturize Your Skin
Just as drinking water helps to moisturize your skin from the inside, applying lotion moisturizes your skin from the outside!
The Skin Cancer Foundation says, “While skin is still damp, use a gentle moisturizing lotion (but not petroleum or oil-based ointments, which may trap the heat and make the burn worse). Repeat to keep burned or peeling skin moist over the next few days.”
But don’t use just any lotion! Once again, right now you’ll need to be extra careful not to irritate your skin. People with sensitive skin benefit from fragrance-free, dermatologist tested products, and you can, too.
Try Babo Botanicals’ Sensitive Skin Fragrance Free Daily Hydra Therapeutic Lotion to hydrate your parched skin.
This non-greasy and lightweight lotion contains two percent colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, sunflower oil, and sea buckthorn oil to relieve, soothe, moisturize, and heal your skin.
Expert tip for ultimate sunburn relief: stick your bottle of lotion in the fridge. Your chilled moisturizer will feel great on your hot skin!
13) Go Easy On Your Face
If your face has been kissed by the sun and then some, go easy on it.
Consider skipping your normal skincare products that can sting or irritate your already-inflamed skin (peels, exfoliants, etc.). For severe burns, you may want to pass on makeup for a couple of days, too.
Give your face some time to heal before going back to those products. And remember if you spend time outside, use a gentle, mineral-based facial sunscreen, like Sheer Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50.
Sunburn Relief FAQs
Here are some helpful FAQs so you can heal your sunburn as quickly as possible.
What Is The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of A Sunburn?
There are a couple of things you can do to quickly get rid of sunburn. You can take a cold shower or bath to cool your skin down and relieve some of the pain. You can use a sunburn relief cream, like hydrocortisone cream, which can relieve itchy sunburns.
But one of the fastest ways to get rid of a sunburn is with aloe gel, like Babo’s soothing, hydrating aloe gel product. Babo Botanicals Aloe Gel is great to use on sunburn because it’s hydrating, cooling, and promotes healing. It forms a protective barrier on your skin to help it retain moisture and heal quickly. Make sure to consult a doctor for any serious sun-related health issues.
What Is The Best Home Remedy For Sunburn?
Although sunburn might be painful, there are thankfully many ways you can treat sunburn right from home. Make sure to consult your doctor for any medical advice. In addition to taking a cold shower or bath and using a sunburn relief lotion, you can also take ibuprofen to relieve some of the pain associated with a sunburn. It’s also key to moisturize your skin which will help to relieve and heal your sunburn.
Babo Botanicals aloe gel product is one of the best creams for sunburn relief because it contains plant-based ingredients and is formulated specifically for sensitive skin.
Babo Botanicals aloe gel product is one of the best creams for sunburn relief because it contains plant-based ingredients and is formulated specifically for sensitive skin.
What Draws Heat Out Of A Sunburn?
To draw heat out of a sunburn, there are a couple of things you can do. It’s important to drink a lot of water and keep yourself hydrated with plenty of electrolytes. You can try applying a cold compress on the affected area to relieve some of the heat. Using aloe vera is also a great way to draw heat out of a sunburn because it reduces inflammation and prevents peeling.
How Long Do Sunburns Last?
Generally speaking, a sunburn can last anywhere from 3-5 days. In more severe cases, a sunburn can last for over a week. Symptoms of sunburn usually appear around 4 hours after exposure to the sun, but they’ll worsen over the first few days. You’ll likely experience the most pain from the sunburn 6-48 hours after exposure.
In order to prevent a sunburn from happening and to protect your skin from sun damage, you need to wear broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least 30 SPF. It’s also important to know how much sunscreen to use on your face so that you don’t apply too little and risk exposing yourself to sunburn. If you’re not sure about which sunscreen is right for you, you can check out the EWG sunscreen guide, which will give you an idea of what ingredients to look for in sunscreen.
And when in doubt, you can’t go wrong with any of Babo Botanicals sunscreen products. You can find everything from baby sunscreen to adult sunscreen, so you can protect the whole family from sunburn.
So Long, Sunburn
Dealing with sunburn is painful and annoying, but fortunately there are a myriad of things you can do right at home to relieve some of the pain. It’s crucial to take the right steps to treat your sunburn so that your skin can heal as quickly as possible.
Even with the best care your skin can still get sunburn. Your job now is to show your tender, red skin some extra TLC with the 13 tips we listed above!
With the right care, you can ease discomfort, soothe your skin, and help it to heal as soon as possible. Sunburn relief is in sight!
While your skin is healing, apply Babo Botanicals’ After Sun Soothing Hydrating Aloe Gel to moisturize and calm your sunburn. Once you head back outside, avoid another sunburn faux pas by lathering up with Clear Zinc Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30. Your skin will thank you!
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