Guide to Treating a Sunburn

Sunburn is a literal pain. It makes your skin hot, sensitive to touch and leaves you generally feeling unwell. Knowing how to identify the severity of your sunburn, learning how to treat your sunburn at home and determining when to seek professional treatment for your sunburn is essential to it healing properly. Sunburn care and prevention is not complicated, but it must be done correctly to be effective.

Identifying the severity of your sunburn is an important step in determining the level of care your sunburn may require. Mild sunburn results in reddening and irritation of the skin about 2-6 hours after sun exposure. More severe cases of sunburn may include blistering of the skin, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, flu like symptoms and skin loss or severe peeling. You should seek care immediately and consult your physician if you suspect that you have developed a severe case of sunburn. If you develop confusion, faint, have severe skin blistering , have severe pain or any other exaggerated symptom you may consider going directly tot he emergency room. Severe sunburn symptoms should never be ignored, because they may indicate more life threatening damage has occurred.

Mild cases of sunburn can be effectively treated using home sunburn remedies. Pain relief for sunburn should start with an over the counter medication like Aspirin, Ibuprofen or Naproxen. Cool compresses are also extremely helpful in relieving pain caused by sunburn. Applying cool clothes, cool tea bags, diluted apple cider vinegar or a burrow solution for about 20 minutes are all great additions to your standard cool compress. Taking a cool or tepid bath, followed by a light moisturizer can also be helpful. Aloe Vera is also a great natural sunburn relief remedy and can be used in conjunction with other therapies. Naturally, replacing any fluids lost and getting out of the sun is another important aspect of treatment.

Treatment of more severe cases of sunburn and caring for a baby with sunburn are different than caring for mild sunburn. If you have a severe case of sunburn or your baby has sunburn you should always consult a physician. For severe cases of sunburn your physician may prescribe special creams like Thermazene or an oral steroid. Fluid therapy and a pain relief regimen may also be prescribed by your physician. Babies with sunburn should be closely monitored for symptoms of severe sunburn. They can be bathed in a cool oatmeal bath to control itching or wrapped in a cool towel to relieve skin irritation. Under the advise of your baby's physician you may also use over the counter infant pain relievers and antihistamines to make a sunburned baby more comfortable.

Sunburn is very preventable when proper precautions are taken prior to sun exposure. Using a sunscreen that protects from both UV-A and UV-B is essential to preventing sunburn and sun damage. Sunscreens should be reapplied at least every two hours and more often if you are sweating or swimming. Covering up outside is another important tool in sunburn defense. Using hats, sunglasses, umbrellas and cover-ups will help to lessen the amount of skin exposed to the suns damaging rays.