How to Reduce Sunburn Pain Using Home Remedies

We all know that the best way to not have sunburn pain is to wear sunscreen at all times while in the summer sun, but sometimes we get busy and forget to re-apply or even just forget all together. Sunburn will happen and when it does you are usually in pain, you can't sleep, you can't sit, and it hurts to take a warm shower. There are several things you can do to ease the pain and hopefully I can give you a few different ideas to try.

There is always the conventional way of easing sunburn pain and that is using some aloe or lotion that claims to reduce pain. These products usually work fairly well, the problem is that they don't work for very long. I am a fan of aloe, it brings almost immediate relief and lasts in the neighborhood of 20-40 minutes (at least for me). If you have someone available to apply it, and can stand the discomfort of the initial rub down than you are good using these products. Another product along the conventional lines is your basic pain killer, I really like to use Advil for my sunburn, it seems to really take the edge off, and if you stay ahead of the pain it really works well (again, for me). So, a combination of aloe and pain killer really does work and can get you through the worst of a bad sunburn, try this combination, hopefully it will work for you.

If the conventional treatments don't seem to work for you, maybe try some vinegar. I recently tried this one myself and to my surprise, it worked really well. It left me smelling like a salad bar but when your in severe sunburn pain it doesn't really matter what you smell like. When I looked into doing this I found that most people suggest pouring one cup of white cider vinegar into a tub of water and soak in it, I didn't have time for this so I had my wife soak up vinegar with cotton balls and rub my back with it. Like I said, I smelled something bad but the pain was gone and the relief lasted for about an hour and a half. If you can stand the smell, try this one out, I was really surprised.

Another home remedy that goes along with soaking yourself in something is to soak the skin with milk. I have never tried this myself but a mother of one of my friends swears by it. What you do is get some milk and get it to room temperature (it can't be refrigerated). Get some gauze or cotton balls and rub the sunburn with it, keep it on the burn for about ten to twenty minutes. The relief will last for about three hours and then you need to repeat until the pain is gone. According to my friends mother she used to put milk on all types of burns when she was a kid and it took the pain away, sunburn was no different, and she swears it works. Again, the only problem with this one is the smell as well. You'll be smelling like sour milk for a few days. Next time I get sunburned I am going to try this one. This home remedy does show up on the Internet too so I know other people are trying this one.

I guess I wouldn't be doing this article justice if I didn't bring up the oatmeal remedy. I'm sure you've all heard that wrapping the burn in oatmeal works in relieving the pain. I have tried this and have had no relief at all, or know anybody personally that this has worked for. However the Internet is packed with stories of oatmeal pain relief so I guess it does work for some. Maybe I'm using the wrong brand?

Here is an obvious home remedy that some just simply forget about, we get all wrapped up in ways to ease the pain that we forget that anything cold will do wonders for any type of burn. I really like to hop in a cold shower a few times a day and especially before bed, it cools the burn and actually decreases the inflammation that is caused by the burn. The relief does not last as long but the immediate results are amazing. If you don't want to stand in a cold shower (who does) simply get some ice in a bag and place it on the burn. You probably want to wrap it in a thin towel first but this is an effective pain reliever. It's simple, and it doesn't leave you smelling like a salad or rotten milk.

I have given you some home remedies that I know work and some that I've heard work, try them out and see what happens. Let me also give you some advice on what not to do for sunburn. Don't use products that will dry out your skin as this will prolong the burn and actually cause more pain. Drink lots of water and try and keep your skin as hydrated as possible. There are thousands of home remedies on the Internet, search them out and find out what works best for you, these are just some that I have tried and some I will try in the future.