How to Deal with a Sunburn

Sometimes, despite your best intentions, you find yourself having to deal with a sunburn.  Maybe you got a little overzealous on your first day of a sunny holiday or you underestimated the strength of the sun.  Even on cloudy days, you can get a sunburn. Slapping on sunscreen before going out isn’t necessarily going to protect you all day, especially if you go swimming or perspire heavily.  You may not even realize that you’ve been burned until 12-24 hours after exposure.

A sunburn is the skin cells’ reaction to being damaged by the sun’s UV rays. In order to repair the damage, the body increases the blood flow to the skin, causing the telltale redness of a sunburn.  And in case you’re thinking that a sunburn is no big deal, keep in mind that just one bad, blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence can more than double your chances of developing melanoma later in life.

Our best advice is to avoid sunburn in the first place. However, despite your best intentions, you may find that you develop one. If this happens, here are some steps to help speed the recovery:

1. Get out of the sun as soon as you can. Consider spending the next day or two inside.  If this isn’t feasible, stay in the shade and cover the sunburned areas with loose clothing.
2. Take a cool shower or bath; avoid soaps that may irritate the already sensitive skin. Pat skin dry gently.
3. Apply an aloe vera  gel or a dedicated after-sun product like La Roche Posay’s  Posthelios Melt-in Gel to cool the skin and also replenish moisture.  Avoid rubbing as this could cause pain. Instead, leave it a bit wet and allow it to absorb.
4. Drink lots of fluids.  Sunburns can be very dehydrating, so it’s important to replace fluids that are lost.
5. Take pain relievers if needed. Sunburns can sometimes cause fever, chills and flu-like symptoms. A pain reliever like ibuprofen can help by lessening the discomfort as well as the inflammation.

If you experience extensive blistering, have a high fever or nausea, or find that the sunburn hasn’t improved after a few days of self-treatment, seek medical attention.