What is Sunburn?
Sunburn occurs when your skin is exposed to the sun for a long period of time. If you become sunburnt, your skin turns red and begins to hurt. If the burn is severe, skin blisters can develop. Other symptoms may include fever, chills, nausea, headache and weakness. After a few days your skin will start itching and peeling as your body tries to rid itself of sun-damaged cells.
What Causes Sunburn?
When your skin is exposed to the sun for a long period of time, it burns, turns red and becomes painful. The sun gives off three wavelengths of ultraviolet light, UVA, UVB and UVC. UVA and UVB rays cause sunburn and they also penetrate your skin causing skin damage.
Sun damage is not always visible as under the surface ultraviolet light can alter your DNA, causing the premature aging of your skin. Over time, DNA damage can lead to skin cancers, including deadly melanoma.
Natural Treatments for Sunburn
In order to calm the intense pain of sunburn it is important to know how to treat it. Prevention is always the best advice, but when sunburn does occur it is important to know the proper treatment.
The natural treatment of sunburn includes the following:
1. Sunglasses
It is very important that you always wear sunglasses whenever you are outside. Treating a burn in your eye is much more difficult and may require an eye specialist to ensure your vision is not damaged.
2. Drink Lots of Fluids
When suffering sunburn, one of the first remedies that you should always try is drinking lots of water. This is important because it helps to ensure that your body is fully hydrated. If you are dehydrated it will cause your skin to dry out, which in turn can make it extremely difficult to soothe your skin to a level that is comfortable. If you are dehydrated, your skin is going to have a much harder time healing. Drinking plenty of water will be extremely helpful to ensure that you are getting all the fluids that you need, not only for your health but also to improve the shape of your skin.
3. Aloe Vera
Another highly effective solution is to use aloe vera. This is available in the form of gels, but can also be used directly from the plant if you have access to an aloe vera plant. Used for more than just sunburn, aloe vera is also highly effective for a plethora of other burns as well. Refrigerating the cream first will make it feel even better on your sunburned skin.
4. Cool Milk Compresses
You can also use cool milk compresses. It is important to use cool milk, not cold. If you use milk that is extremely cold, you will often find that it is extremely uncomfortable to the touch and is more disturbing than comforting. To get the biggest benefit possible from the cool milk compresses you should take some cotton gauze, or a very soft cloth, and soak it in milk. You can then dab the compress onto the skin.
4. Cool Bath
Take a cool bath to help soothe the burn. Do not use cold water as this will be uncomfortable.
With some patience, all sunburn will heal. Trying to wait until it heals on its own is not always possible. This can make it extremely difficult to work, get the rest you need and also function. A small amount of relief is always a welcome benefit for most people and is something that should never be discounted. Getting relief is possible and your skin will certainly appreciate the help.