Best Naturally Soothing Sunburn Treatments for your Skin
June 23, 2016
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-Gauze or a clean, soft, washcloth
-Chilled milk
Pour a bowl of milk high enough so that you can thoroughly soak your compress in it. When the gauze or washcloth is saturated, let the excess liquid drain off. Drape across your burn, pressing gently so that it stays in place, and leave it on for as long as needed. If the milk in the bowl becomes room temperature chill it before re-dunking your compress.
-2 potatoes
Wash and scrub your potatoes thoroughly, and then either grate them over a bowl or cut them up and put them in a blender. There is no need to remove the peels. If you’re using a blender, give them a whirl until they’ve become quite liquid. If they seem too dry, you can add a small amount of water. Pour out the mixture, soak cotton balls thoroughly in it, and apply to sunburn. An easier perhaps more effective method would be to soak gauze and lay it over the burn.
-1 quart of boiling water
-5 green tea bags
-3 cups of fresh mint leaves
-Cotton pads or a clean soft cloth
Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Remove the strings and tags from the 5 tea bags and add them, as well as 3 cups of fresh mint leaves, to a pan. Pour the boiling water over the mint leaves and tea bags and cover with a lid, letting is sit for approximately an hour so you can get all the good stuff out of it. Strain and then chill.
-1 cup roughly apple cider vinegar
-a spray bottle (optional)
-Cotton balls or something similar for application
Try this after taking a water only shower if possible. Fill a spray bottle with pure unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and spritz it onto your burn, or soak cotton balls and apply. Let it dry.
-Roughly 2 cups of rolled oats, uncooked
-a clean tube sock
Fill a clean cotton tube sock with uncooked oatmeal and tie off the top. Make sure the top is really cinched off; otherwise the oatmeal will leak out and float around. Run a bath full of tepid water, only a little on the cool side if you feel even tepid is too warm. Toss in the sock and let it soak for a few minutes before getting in the tub.
-1 tablespoon of witch hazel
-1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel
-2-4 teaspoons of baking soda or cornstarch
-1-2 cups of fresh mint leaves, or 1 teaspoon of peppermint oil
-2 tablespoons fresh, clean, water
Put 2 tablespoons of fresh water, 1 tablespoon of witch hazel, and 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel, in a small mixing bowl. Stir together and then cover, letting the mixture blend and infuse for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add 2-4 teaspoons of baking soda or cornstarch, and 1-2 cups of roughly chopped fresh mint leaves.
-1/2 cup or so of plain live cultured yogurt
-1 or 2 fresh cucumbers, chilled
-A blender or a knife
If you’re going for mainly quick pain relief, slice up a chilled cucumber and lay the slices on your burned skin. Flip the slices when the first side heats up, like how you flip a pillow to get the cool side up. For a longer lasting effect, chill 1 or 2 cucumbers and toss them in a blender to create a paste. Feel free to add in some aloe vera gel or cornstarch if you want it a little thicker.
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Cool milk compress
A cool milk compress is
one of the quickest, simplest and low-cost ways to treat sunburn. It doesn’t
get much easier than just heading to the refrigerator for relief-and easy is
good when treating anything. The initial coolness of the milk will ease the
heat, while it also creates a layer of protein to protect your skin, help it
heal, and further soothe discomfort.
You will need
-Gauze or a clean, soft, washcloth
-Chilled milk
Directions
Pour a bowl of milk high enough so that you can thoroughly soak your compress in it. When the gauze or washcloth is saturated, let the excess liquid drain off. Drape across your burn, pressing gently so that it stays in place, and leave it on for as long as needed. If the milk in the bowl becomes room temperature chill it before re-dunking your compress.
Potato paste
If you’ve found
yourself with searing hot red skin, root up a few potatoes. Potatoes have been
known as a pain reliever throughout the years, working particularly well on
minor skin irritations and soothing scratches, bites, and burns, as well as
possibly reducing inflammation. Some people feel that the juice of the potato
works the best, while others feel just slices are sufficient. Try both, and see
which one is the best remedy for your sunburn.
You will need
-2 potatoes
-A grater, blender, or knife
-Cotton balls, cotton pads, facial tissue, or gauze
-Cotton balls, cotton pads, facial tissue, or gauze
Directions
Wash and scrub your potatoes thoroughly, and then either grate them over a bowl or cut them up and put them in a blender. There is no need to remove the peels. If you’re using a blender, give them a whirl until they’ve become quite liquid. If they seem too dry, you can add a small amount of water. Pour out the mixture, soak cotton balls thoroughly in it, and apply to sunburn. An easier perhaps more effective method would be to soak gauze and lay it over the burn.
If you’re using a
grater, grate the potatoes over a bowl and apply the pulp, trying to get as
much juice as possible. You can also try simply slicing the potatoes, and lying
the slices directly on your burn.
Cool off with mint
& tea
Mint naturally cools
and soothes whatever it touches, and sunburns are no exception. The tannic acid
and theobromine found in green tea also helps relieve pain and heal damaged
skin when applied topically.
You will need
-1 quart of boiling water
-5 green tea bags
-3 cups of fresh mint leaves
-Cotton pads or a clean soft cloth
Directions
Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Remove the strings and tags from the 5 tea bags and add them, as well as 3 cups of fresh mint leaves, to a pan. Pour the boiling water over the mint leaves and tea bags and cover with a lid, letting is sit for approximately an hour so you can get all the good stuff out of it. Strain and then chill.
When the mixture has chilled thoroughly, use cotton pads
or a clean soft cloth soaked in the liquid and apply directly to the burn. You
can also pour it over the burn if you wish. If you find yourself without green
tea you can substitute black tea, which also contains tannins.
Season with vinegar
Vinegar has been part
of family lore for literally hundreds of years. While there is no official
research done on how it helps sunburns in particular, there are a vast amount
of people out there who swear up and down that vinegar helps heal sunburn, or mildly
burned tissue in general. Pure unfiltered apple cider vinegar seems to work the
best, and often times proponents of this method say is most effective after a
cool or tepid shower.
You will need
-1 cup roughly apple cider vinegar
-a spray bottle (optional)
-Cotton balls or something similar for application
Directions
Try this after taking a water only shower if possible. Fill a spray bottle with pure unfiltered apple cider vinegar, and spritz it onto your burn, or soak cotton balls and apply. Let it dry.
Take a bath with the
Quaker guy
I should specify that I
mean add oatmeal to a bath, and the one with the nice looking fellow wearing a
hat tends to be the one most people have. That being said, any plain rolled
oats will do. The polysaccharides in oatmeal will coat and heal your skin,
while the water cools you down and keeps your skin hydrated and moist. Make
sure your bath is tepid, or slightly on the cooler side. Cold water will seal
off pores and your body will want to trap heat. The burn is hot enough that
tepid water will still soothe it.
You will need
-Roughly 2 cups of rolled oats, uncooked
-a clean tube sock
Directions
Fill a clean cotton tube sock with uncooked oatmeal and tie off the top. Make sure the top is really cinched off; otherwise the oatmeal will leak out and float around. Run a bath full of tepid water, only a little on the cool side if you feel even tepid is too warm. Toss in the sock and let it soak for a few minutes before getting in the tub.
Squeeze the out the sock to get all the
healing goodness, and repeat every few minutes. The water will get cloudy, and
your skin may feel somewhat slick-which is a good thing. Let yourself air dry,
or pat dry gently with a clean soft towel when you’re finished.
Note: Don’t linger for
hours, as a super long soak may dry out your skin more in the end.
DIY burn cream
Whipping up a cream to
soothe your sunburn at home can be easy, provided you have the right
ingredients. Not surprisingly, this cream contains water, witch hazel, aloe
vera gel, mint leaves, and baking soda, all of which relieve sunburn for
various reasons. You can experiment by adding or subtracting other helpful
ingredients to find out what works best for you.
You will need
-1 tablespoon of witch hazel
-1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel
-2-4 teaspoons of baking soda or cornstarch
-1-2 cups of fresh mint leaves, or 1 teaspoon of peppermint oil
-2 tablespoons fresh, clean, water
Directions
Put 2 tablespoons of fresh water, 1 tablespoon of witch hazel, and 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel, in a small mixing bowl. Stir together and then cover, letting the mixture blend and infuse for 2 hours. After 2 hours, add 2-4 teaspoons of baking soda or cornstarch, and 1-2 cups of roughly chopped fresh mint leaves.
If it seems too runny
add more baking soda or cornstarch slowly, or if it’s too thick, add small
amounts of water slowly until desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a jar
or similar container with a tight fitting lid, and store in a cool dark place
for 24 hours to let the cream fully infuse. You can than apply as needed.
Making some ahead of time and keeping it in the refrigerator ensures you always
have a handy cream to heal any sunburn you get during the hot summer months.
Use plain yogurt
Live cultured plain
yogurt contains an abundance of probiotics and enzymes that help heal our skin.
When you find yourself red and sunburned, it can help you recover faster. Make
sure it’s truly plain yogurt, not vanilla, and that it has probiotics.
You will need
-1/2 cup or so of plain live cultured yogurt
A half cup of plain
yogurt should be sufficient to treat facial burns at least, but feel free to
use more if you want to cover more area. Wash your hands and apply cool yogurt
directly to your burn, and let it sit for at least 5 minutes. When the pain has
subsided, gently rinse it off with cool or tepid water.
Double check your meds
Various antibiotics,
creams, pills, and antifungal medication can make you ultra-sensitive to the
sun. When I was treating my acne I would awe people with how I functioned in
spite of my sizzling red my skin (if you count taking 30 minutes to pull on
clothes functioning.) The medications I was on made me extremely sensitive to
sunlight, and I burned after about 10 minutes outside. Check with your doctor
or read the side effects of your medications if you find yourself getting
burned easier and on a more frequent basis than usual. It could be that you
have to use a little extra protection if you’re compromised due to medicine.
Apply, reapply
To get the most out the
SPF (sun protection factor) of your sunscreen, apply it 30 minutes before you
even go outside. Don’t neglect sensitive areas like your ears, the back of your
neck and shoulders, and the backs of your legs and arms. If you’re sweating or
swimming, reapply as needed. Don’t get too big for your britches when you’ve
been cooking yourself on the beach all day and haven’t gotten burned. A sunburn
doesn’t truly set in until 24 hours after sun exposure, and chances are you’ll
be feeling the consequences of not covering up later.
Cool it, cucumber
Instant relief-that’s
what a cucumber is to scorched skin. Not only is a cool cucumber soothing to
the burn simply because it’s cool, but its antioxidant and analgesic properties
promote healing and further relief from discomfort. You can apply it in a
couple of ways, but however you do it, the swelling, redness, and pain should
diminish soon.
You will need
-1 or 2 fresh cucumbers, chilled
-A blender or a knife
Directions
If you’re going for mainly quick pain relief, slice up a chilled cucumber and lay the slices on your burned skin. Flip the slices when the first side heats up, like how you flip a pillow to get the cool side up. For a longer lasting effect, chill 1 or 2 cucumbers and toss them in a blender to create a paste. Feel free to add in some aloe vera gel or cornstarch if you want it a little thicker.
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