Who hasn't experienced it? You spend a sunny day out by the lake or in the park, and after a few hours, you feel your skin tightening, burning, and looking red – a sunburn. Here, I'll show you with valuable (SOS) tips how to relieve pain and redness, what really helps with sunburn, and how to best prevent it in the future.
Sunburn: What to Do? Immediate Help
- Avoid the sun and stay indoors: Avoid the sun and go into the shade, or even better, stay completely indoors to protect your skin from further UV radiation.
- Cool affected areas: Cooling creams and gels provide relief for sunburn, where the skin often feels very hot and can be painful.
- Drink plenty of fluids: Make sure to drink more – preferably water or unsweetened tea. Your body needs more fluids when you have a sunburn.
- Wear protective clothing: If you are outdoors, it's best to cover the affected areas.
How to Recognize a Sunburn?
You can primarily recognize sunburn by several characteristics. However, it can occur in different degrees – depending on how severe the sunburn is and how damaged your skin is.
- First-degree sunburn: Redness, warm skin sensation, slight swelling, tightness, itching, or burning
- Second-degree sunburn: Blisters, peeling skin
- Third-degree sunburn: The skin peels and scars can form
What Helps with Sunburn?
These few steps provide immediate relief for sunburn and alleviate redness, heat, and pain. I hope they help you too:
Get Out Of The Sun
As soon as you notice your skin is very red, burning, and tight, you should get out of the sun and stay in the shade or, even better, indoors. More UV radiation can severely damage your skin and only worsen the sunburn.
Gently Cool The Skin
For sunburn, it helps to gently cool the skin with, for example, cool packs. The emphasis is on gentle, as the cool packs should not be too cold or placed directly on the skin. It's best to wrap them in a cloth to avoid frostbite.
You can also place a cold, damp towel on the affected areas or even wear a damp T-shirt.
Alternatively, a cooling shower also helps – just make sure to use gentle, hydrating cleansers instead of drying shower gels.
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Apply Soothing Formulas
Lotions and special after-sun products can gently soothe your skin, have a cooling effect, and additionally moisturize the skin.
After-sun formulas often differ from conventional body lotions as they contain less fat and more moisture. However, you should pay attention to the ingredients and choose products that ideally do not contain alcohol. This can additionally dry out and irritate the skin.
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Drink Plenty of Fluids
With a sunburn, you should take it easy and also provide your body with fluids from within. After all, your body has a higher fluid requirement with sunburn.
So, you should ideally drink about two to three liters of water or unsweetened, cold tea per day.
Protect Your Skin
If you have to go outside with a sunburn, you should protect your skin and cover it with long clothing. As long as you expose your skin to more UV radiation, you will continue to damage it and the sunburn can worsen.
Home Remedies for Sunburn
- Compresses with quark or yogurt: Apply yogurt or quark about a finger's thickness to the affected areas and cover with a thin cotton or linen cloth. Leave on for a maximum of 15 minutes, then carefully wash off. The quark or yogurt should never dry out and should not be applied to blisters or open wounds.
- Damp towels: Cold, damp towels can wonderfully cool the skin. Make sure the water temperature is not too cold; it should feel pleasant.
- Tea wraps: Especially black tea has anti-inflammatory and soothing effects on the skin. Brew a pot of tea and let it cool. Then soak thin cloths or rags in it and place them on the sunburnt skin for 20 minutes.
- Pure Aloe Vera: Aloe Vera is considered a miracle plant for sunburn. You can apply the juice directly from the leaf to the skin or use products with the valuable Aloe Vera extract.
What to Avoid With Sunburn?
- Sunbathing: With sunburn, you should definitely not expose yourself to the sun anymore and ideally stay indoors.
- Hot showers: Hot water irritates your skin and can only worsen the warm sensation you already feel with sunburn.
- Exfoliating: Your skin is already irritated with sunburn – exfoliating would only make it worse. Wait until the sunburn has completely healed.
- Active ingredients: You should never use active ingredients like AHAs, BHA, and retinoids on sunburn. This would only lead to further irritation. Give your skin a temporary break from active skincare.
- Greasy products: Greasy creams have an occlusive effect, which is rather counterproductive for sunburn. This can trap heat underneath, which in turn intensifies the inflammatory reaction.
How Long Does a Sunburn Last?
How long a sunburn lasts depends entirely on its severity. For a mild sunburn, pain and redness are usually worst after 12 to 24 hours and then gradually subside. After three to five days, there is usually nothing left to see.
For a more severe sunburn with blisters, it can take one to two weeks for the sunburn to fully subside. The skin usually peels during this time.
Regular cooling and moisturizing, as well as drinking plenty of fluids, help support the healing process.
Consequences of Sunburn
Short-term consequences of sunburn can be:
- Reddened skin
- Pain
- Itching
- Feeling of heat
- Blistering
- Fever
- Chills
- Nausea
- Circulatory problems
- Sunstroke
However, sunburn can also have long-term consequences:
- Every sunburn increases the risk of skin cancer. It permanently damages the DNA of skin cells and significantly increases the risk of black or white skin cancer.
- Sunburn and increased UV radiation can lead to hyperpigmentation such as age spots and pigment spots.
- Strong UV radiation can promote skin aging.
When Should You See a Doctor for Sunburn?
You should definitely see a doctor if you experience the following symptoms – in case it is sunstroke or heatstroke:
- Nausea
- Circulatory problems
- Chills
- Fever
If your toddler or baby has a sunburn, you should definitely take them to a pediatrician to determine the severity of the burn.
How to Prevent Sunburn
- Apply sunscreen and reapply regularly: Choose a sunscreen with an SPF suitable for your skin type. Remember to reapply sunscreen regularly (especially after sweating, swimming, or towel-drying) to maintain protection.
- Avoid midday sun: The intensity of UVA and UVB rays is strongest between 11 AM and 3 PM – during this time, you should preferably stay in the shade or, even better, indoors.
- Wear protective accessories: Protect your head with a hat or cap and also remember sunglasses with UV filters to shield your eyes.
I hope this blog post about sunburn and what you can do about it has been helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or comments!
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