The ancient Egyptians used oatmeal to relieve skin problems. The traditional procedure of using oats as a topical medicine involved stirring whole or rolled oats into bathwater. Manufacturers introduced a pre-packaged colloidal oatmeal product to the market in 1945. The Mayo Clinic developed and used the first colloidal oatmeal bath treatment later that same year. Soothe your red, painful sunburn at home with an oatmeal paste made from products likely already available in your kitchen.
Step 1
Make oatmeal paste at home with a food processor or blender and the same plain oatmeal you eat for breakfast. Add dry oatmeal to the food processor and blend or pulse until the oatmeal is a fine powder. Pour the oatmeal powder into a bowl and add just enough water to make a fine paste. Use distilled or purified water when available, to reduce possible irritants. Some people like to add a drop of honey to the oatmeal paste.
Step 2
Smear the oatmeal paste on localized sunburns. Completely cover the affected area, smearing a little on the nearby skin which may appear healthy but which has suffered tissue damage. Use your fingers to gently apply the paste to your sunburned areas, as cotton balls or towels tend to leave strands of material which may irritate your sensitive skin. Leave the oatmeal paste on your skin, reapplying new coats over existing layers whenever necessary.
Step 3
Add the oatmeal paste to bath water to sooth large areas of burned skin. Bathe as often as necessary to provide comfort. Do not add other chemicals, like bubble bath solution, to the oatmeal-treated water. Burned skin absorbs chemicals more readily. Oatmeal contains four substances known to be beneficial to your skin. Polysaccharides in oatmeal break down into a gelatinous substance when you add water; this substance forms a protective barrier on top of your skin, which inhibits drying. Oatmeal proteins help your skin heal itself. Saponins in oatmeal gently lift dirt from your skin pores without irritation. Oatmeal also contains natural fats which hydrate your sunburned skin.
Step 4
Continue treatment as long as the pain is present. The pain and redness associated with sunburned skin typically emerge several hours after exposure to the sun has damaged your skin cells. Oatmeal pastes will not prevent further damage to your skin cells but oatmeal treatment will prevent new skin from drying out while reducing your pain.
Things You'll Need
- 1 cup oatmeal
- Food processor
- Water
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