Stop the Burn

Living at the beach means on most summer days you can find me and my kids with our toes in the sand. Sandcastles, boogy boarding, jumping waves, it’s all in a days work for us. Being in the sun all day requires multiple applications of sun tan lotion, but inevitably we still manage a few burns here and there. Then it’s all about the aloe!

I thought the beginning of the summer would be a great time to share with you some of the remedies that I’ve found to help stop the burn. This post is also perfect for this week, as all my ideas are so fresh in my mind as I used every one last week after toasting myself in Key West.

First thing I suggest if you are in the sun a lot and find yourself getting a couple burns a year, buy an aloe vera plant!! I have a couple in my house and even if you aren’t blessed with a green thumb (raising hand with black thumb proudly) you can keep an aloe plant. They are very hearty, you only water them like once or twice a month, and they keep on spreading. Believe me, if I can keep one alive anybody can. Then when you get a burn, go straight to your plant, cut a big piece off, slice it open so the aloe is exposed, and rub the aloe all over your burn. I promise that your sunburn will instantly feel better! Usually I only have to do this once, but if you start to feel the burn again don’t hesitate to apply some more. The great thing about this remedy is that it is all natural so you don’t have to worry about putting anything harmful on your body.

If you don’t have any aloe plants handy then you can always go for the packaged aloe at the store. My favorite is Banana Boat AloeVera Gel. It does soothe and cool the skin making the burn feel better, but I do find sometimes it leaves my skin feeling a bit sticky. Notice too that there are other products found in this gel besides just aloe so read the ingredients carefully to ensure you are not allergic to them. The other product I like is Hawaiian Trop Cool Aloe I.C.E. with Lidocaine. The I.C.E. is for the “instant cooling effect” it provides when the gel meets your burn. Once again it works great at soothing and cooling the skin, but does leave a sticky residue. This also contains Lidocaine which may irritate some peoples skin so you would want to test it before rubbing it all over!

A none aloe remedy would be to take a bath in cool water to help draw some of the heat out of your skin. I find this does usually cool my skin, but when I get out I can’t stop shaking. My mom always swore by vinegar and I remember many times when I was younger of laying washrags drenched in vinegar on my shoulders and arms. It does work, but I must say that it can be quite stinky.

Then there is the aspirin. Take aspirin as soon as you begin to feel the burn and follow the directions on the container to take it a few more times. Aspirin works awesome at taking out the sting making you feel much more comfortable. Ibuprofen will work too if that is all you have, but aspirin seems to do the trick even a bit better.

Finally, drink your water! When you have a sunburn you can begin to feel very dehydrated as your body works hard to cool itself down. Keep a bottle or glass by you and remember to drink it as much as possible. Stay hydrated!

Of course the best way to beat sunburn is to be preventive and wear that sunscreen. However, I’m going to leave that review for somebody else because until just recently my preventive measure included tanning oil with SPF 4 and I may be many things, but a hypocrite I am not!

That wraps up the remedies I’ve tried to treat sunburn. If you have tried something that worked great or even something that was supposed to work great, but failed miserably, leave a comment telling me about it. It’s always good to have an overflowing bag of tricks to cure the burn or to know the ones to avoid. Enjoy your time in the sun this summer!