Home remedy for sunburn

The best home remedies for sunburn

Actually, the skin should always be protected so that no sunburn occurs. However, if this happens, there are some good home remedies that have a soothing, cooling and healing effect. Sunburn should not be taken lightly because the more often the skin is burned by too much exposure to the sun, the risk of skin cancer increases. Especially if children had a sunburn more often before their sixth birthday, they are later more at risk of developing skin cancer.

contents

• The best home remedies for sunburn
• First aid for sunburn: Drink plenty and cool
• Black tea and aloe cool and heal
• Quick relief from quark wrap and yoghurt
• Natural treatment with healing clay and soda
• Effective herbs for sunburn
• Prevention: Prevention through proper sun protection
• How does a sunburn develop??
• Typical symptoms
• From scars to skin cancer: Complications of sunburn

First aid for sunburn: Drink plenty and cool

At the first signs should definitely be left the sun. The affected areas must be covered with suitable clothing in the next few days until the sunburn has completely healed. It is also important to think of a sufficient intake of fluids. The skin now needs even more moisture and fed from the inside.

Drinking a lot is important to provide the damaged skin with sufficient fluids from the inside. (Image: winston / fotolia.com)

The faster the skin is cooled, the better. It should never be cooled with ice-cold substances, instead the temperature should be in the range of 15 ° C to 20 ° C. Too much cold would even prolong the healing process.

First aid with sunburn afford cool showers or pads with wet cloths, because they soothe the skin and relieve the burning sensation. The cloths are renewed as soon as they have warmed up. The healing can be assisted by adding some fruit vinegar to the water that wets the tissues. Dabbing the affected areas with cotton balls soaked in vinegar water is also helpful.

Important: Fats, ointments and oils should not be used in case of sunburn, as they may affect the release of heat through the skin and thus may cause a deterioration of the skin condition. Pharmacies have a variety of gels ready for a sunburn.

Black tea and aloe cool and heal

A great home remedy for sunburnt skin is Aloe Vera, which is not always within reach. If present, a piece of the aloe vera plant is cut off and the exuding juice is applied to the affected areas. The substances of Aloe have a cooling and healing effect, because the plant contains anti-inflammatory substances.

Has proven itself black tea. For small places are tea bags that have been brewed before and then stored in the refrigerator. For larger areas towels are soaked with strong, chilled black tea and then hung up. Again, the pads are renewed as soon as they have become warm. Alternatively, chamomile tea may be used for the application.

Quick relief from quark wrap and yoghurt

Effective sunscreen treatment offers quark application. In the process, dishcloths are spread over with simple skim curd cheese, folded and placed on the affected areas. This cools and acts simultaneously anti-inflammatory. If the Quark wrap has become warm, it will be renewed.

Quark is a proven home remedy for sunburn. (Image: rainbow33 / fotolia.com)

Alternatively, yogurt, kefir or soaked in buttermilk wipes help. It is important, if residues of the milk product remain on the skin, wash them generously in order to avoid any risk of infection.

An Australian home remedy is the application of grated eggplant with some natural yoghurt. For this we grated an aubergine (complete with shell), mixed with some natural yoghurt and applied to the damaged skin regions. This takes the heat and helps to heal. Remember to completely remove the yoghurt from the skin, preferably with clean water.

If it is a strong sunburn with blisters or an open wound, you should refrain from the treatment with quark or yogurt. Because in this case, the lactic acid bacteria can additionally irritate the skin or even cause inflammation. In case of severe burns, it is better to seek medical attention immediately to avoid complications and consequential damages.

Natural treatment with healing clay and soda

Healing earth is a well-known home remedy for dull traumas. In sunburn, this can also serve well. For this, a porridge is stirred from cool water and healing earth and applied to the "sunny" places. If the whole thing is dry, it is carefully showered with cool water.

The good old soda can provide relief. Mix one teaspoon of soda with one liter of cool, but not too cold, water and then pour the mixture into a spray bottle. This allows you to carefully spray the affected areas again and again.

Effective herbs for sunburn

Anyone who deals with plants knows the beneficial effects of the oak bark. A brew of it is a proven remedy for sun-damaged skin. For this, two tablespoons of oak bark are boiled in a quarter liter of water for about a quarter of an hour and then strained. The cooled brew mixed with water can be applied using a spray bottle. But even towels that are soaked, provide relief.

Arnica has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties and can be analgesic and cooling in the form of a gel. In the pharmacy or the drugstore you will find various (Arnica extract enriched) gels, which you should apply several times a day carefully on the affected areas and gently massage.

Buckthorn pulp oil is a good help as it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and skin regeneration after sun exposure.

Everyone knows cucumber slices from cosmetics. These also help with sunburn. Applied to the burned areas and repeatedly renewed cool them and thus support the healing process.

Arnica cools the burned skin, has an anti-inflammatory effect and relieves the pain. (Image: H. Brauer / fotolia.com)

Prevention: Prevention through proper sun protection

Of course, prevention is better than getting angry with a sore sunburn. Protect your skin with a suitable sunscreen and remember to repeat the creaming periodically. Better still is appropriate clothing that protects from the sun. Most important is a suitable headgear, which also provides the neck protection. Children should not be in the sun without clothing. Even for bathing in the sea or playing on the beach a sunscreen clothing is announced.

Prevention includes a balanced diet rich in antioxidants. These substances are able to buffer the free radicals formed in the body. The body produces a lot of it, especially from the sunshine. Beta-carotene is one of the antioxidants and protects the skin. This is mainly contained in tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage and fennel.

A glass of carrot juice during the day, as a cure before the summer vacation, prepares the skin quite well for the coming sunshine. Other radical scavengers are vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc. A balanced diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, is important to better deal with the dangerous rays.

The skin should be slowly acclimated to the sun. Even long sunbathing is counterproductive. Suitable clothing and protection in the form of (suitable for the skin type) sunscreen are important. Conclusion: Being brown is nice, but not always healthy.

How does a sunburn develop??

The sunburn risk has increased significantly in recent years worldwide, as the ozone layer is getting thinner and the dangerous UV rays (ultraviolet radiation) can no longer adequately intercept. As a result, they reach the surface of the earth unfiltered and can penetrate unhindered into the skin.

Sunburn is an acute inflammatory reaction caused by the sun's penetration of the skin. The dangerous thing about the sun is its UV content. If the skin with its own pigmentation can no longer react to the radiation, an inflammation with redness, overheating and possibly blistering develops.

Sunburn is caused by excessive UV radiation. (Image: Rostislav Sedlacek / fotolia)

The symptoms appear after three to six hours. The rays can penetrate so deeply into the skin that the cell tissue is damaged. As a result, with each new sunburn the risk of getting skin cancer increases. The more frequently the skin is exposed to the sun unprotected, the sooner the skin becomes aging. Heavy burns can cause the epidermis at the burnt sites to be completely destroyed.

Typical symptoms

Grade I sunburn is reached when itching, redness and burning begin. At grade II, blistering sets in, at grade III the upper skin layer is destroyed. Grade II and Grade III belong in the hands of a doctor.

Especially when accompanying symptoms such as fever, tinnitus, headache, circulatory weakness, nausea and vomiting are added, there is no longer any talk of a normal "sunburn". Here necessarily a doctor must be visited.

Especially with young children who have suffered a sunburn, should not be long to wait with a doctor's visit.

From scars to skin cancer: Complications of sunburn

Depending on the severity and extent of the burn and the general symptoms that occur, the burns can lead to a sunstroke, which must be treated expertly. If the skin is burned stronger, permanent scars can develop.

Too much sun can cause the skin to thicken, the vessels expand, the skin ages faster, age and pigment spots develop. Likewise, the already mentioned risk of developing skin cancer increases. For good reason, the serious cases (second and third degree) belong to the hands of medical care. (updated July 29, 2016; sw, nr)