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Sunburn: ten natural remedies
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When summer arrives, sunburn often isn’t far behind. Perhaps you forget to put on your sunscreen, or you don’t put enough on, or maybe you’re someone who doesn’t worry about sunburn. Until it happens.
Here are five food and five herbal remedies to soothe the pain, inflammation, redness, and discomfort of sunburn. While you are treating your sunburn, remember to keep hydrated with cool water or herbal teas.
Food remedies for sunburn
• Apple cider vinegar (do not use white vinegar): Fill a spritzer bottle with apple cider vinegar and spray onto your sunburned skin. Leave it on until it dries, then rinse with cool water.
• Cucumbers: Peel and thinly slice a cucumber and place the slices on the affected skin. Leave the cucumbers on your skin until they get warm.
• Potato: Grate a white potato (or more, depending on the extent of your sunburn) and apply to the affected skin. The starch in the potato soothes the pain
• Strawberries: Mash ripe strawberries and place on your sunburned skin.
• Yogurt: Apply whole plain yogurt to the sunburned skin. You can mix mashed strawberries into the yogurt as well.
Herbal sunburn remedies
• Aloe vera: If you have an aloe vera plant, break off a leaf, squeeze out the gel, and apply to your skin. One hundred percent aloe vera gel is also available in pharmacies and health stores.
• Calendula: Place 20 drops of calendula tincture in four ounces of water and put into a spritzer bottle. Spray onto your sunburned skin. Calendula is also available in gels. This herb helps with inflammation and helps soften and heal the skin.
• Chamomile: Steep 4 to 5 chamomile tea bags in hot water for 30 minutes. Add the tea to a bathtub filled with cool water. Chamomile tea soothes inflamed skin.
• Lavender oil: Place 25 drops of lavender oil into 8 ounces of water and put into a spritzer bottle. Spray onto your sunburned skin.
• Peppermint oil: Place 10 drops of peppermint oil into 4 ounces of water and apply to your sunburned skin using a soft cloth or cotton balls. You can also put it into a spritzer bottle.
These sunburn remedies can be found in supermarkets, health food stores, pharmacies, and general merchandise stores.
Sunburn cautions
You should see a doctor if you have severe sunburn that covers a large portion of your body and/or your have lots of blisters; if you have a high fever or severe pain; and/or if your sunburn does not begin to improve within a few days.
If you use an over-the-counter product, do not use one that contains an anesthetic, such as lidocaine or benzocaine. There is little evidence that they work, and they can irritate the skin.
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