Having fun in the sun is a great way to spend the day, but you can develop a sunburn after just 15 minutes of unprotected exposure. Sunburns hurt and can cause damage to your skin, leading to accelerated aging and even skin cancer. Once you're burned though, all you can do is take care of your skin. There are many ways to treat a minor sunburn without a visit to the doctor's office, though you should see a doctor if you develop serious symptoms like a fever, nausea, confusion or large blisters following sun exposure.
Step 1
Make a cold compress with a wet washcloth and lay it on your sunburn. Once the cloth warms up, rinse it in cold water and repeat. This will cool off your skin and take away some of the sting of the sunburn.
Step 2
Apply an aloe vera lotion to the sunburn. Be gentle in application, patting on the lotion to soothe your skin and ease itching, burning and pain. At the very least, this will make your skin feel cooler and ease irritation temporarily.
Step 3
Drink water. Being out the sun can dry out your skin and dehydrate your body, so you need to compensate by drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. While this should be your normal practice anyway, it's especially important when you've been sunburned.
Step 4
Be delicate to any blisters that develop. Be mindful not to break them as this can expose your body to infection and slow down healing. If in an irritable area, cover the blister with gauze to protect it.
Things You'll Need
- Wash cloth
- Cold water
- Aloe vera lotion
- Gauze
