Tips to Soothe Sunburned Skin

Nobody enjoys the painful aftermath of a sunburn. Most people will get at least one sunburn in their lifetime if not more. Finding ways to soothe sunburned skin is essential. Read on for some suggestions on how to soothe skin that screams OUCH!

Keep an Aloe Vera plant in your home and break off a piece and apply it to sunburned skin as required. Aloe Vera is known to have a calming and cooling effect on the skin. If you don't have a plant then the second best option is Aloe Vera gel. Once applied to sunburned skin, Aloe Vera forms a protective barrier to lock moisture into the damaged area, thereby preventing the skin from being dehydrated. Aloe Vera also supports the skin in healing itself as swiftly as possible.

For fast relief when the sunburn first begins to show itself, take a cool bath and soak for a while and/or apply cold compresses to the sunburned area to ease the pain and discomfort. Another option is to soak a washcloth in cold milk and carefully use it to dab the painful area to help draw the heat out of the skin.

Whole, plain yogurt that has been cooled can be applied directly to sunburned skin and has shown to be very soothing. Products that contain the ingredient lidocaine are also effective for soothing sunburned skin. Lidocaine is an ingredient that acts as an anesthetic.

When sunburn pain is bad enough and causes other problems such as headaches, reach for an over-the-counter analgesic. The best choices include ibuprofen or acetaminophen. If you are unsure which analgesic is the right choice for you then speak with the pharmacist. Always follow the directions on the bottle.

An other way to help yourself from the inside out is to take vitamin supplements for the first couple of days following the sunburn to help promote prompt healing of your skin. The supplements you should reach for include vitamin A, vitamin C, carotene and flaxseed oil. Most of these can be found in liquid form or capsule form. If you prefer flaxseed can also can be purchased as a powder that can be added to breakfast cereal, yogurt, soups, casseroles etc. Trying a cream that contains vitamin E can also go a long way in soothing painful sunburned skin.

Tea contains ingredients known as tannins (or tannic acid) as well as another ingredient called theobromine that help to promote healing. If you have sunburned skin brew a pot of tea and let it cool. Once it has cooled sufficiently use a soft sponge or cloth to apply it directly to the sunburned areas of your skin.

Vinegar has many uses around the home and yet another one is that it is an effective and cooling way to soothe sunburned skin. One suggestion is to put vinegar in a spray bottle and dilute it with a small percentage of water and then apply it topically to the affected skin.