Natural Cures For Sunburn

The rejuvenating warmth of the sun feels good for a while, but over time, too much exposure can cause your skin to suffer. Sunburns occur when ultraviolet (UV) rays cause damage to the outer layer of your skin. It’s a common occurrence that affects nearly everyone – especially during sunny, summer days. To treat the discomfort, you may want to get familiar with the different natural cures for sunburn available to you.

What is Sunburn?

The sun’s ultraviolet rays can damage the skin, causing mild pain and redness to affect the outer layer of the skin. Usually, the skin is painful to the touch, but the condition is easily treatable at home. Some people experience more severe sunburn that causes the skin to redden, swell up, and form blisters. This is an indication that deeper layers of skin have been affected. Sometimes, the nerve endings are compromised. The damage is considered a second-degree burn and will take longer to heal [1].

The type of skin that you have will determine your vulnerability to suffering sunburn. People that tend to sunburn the most have fair skin, freckles, red or blond hear, and blue eyes. Age also plays a role – children younger than six and adults older than 60 are more sensitive to sunlight.

Causes of Sunburn

Staying in the sun too long will cause sunburn to develop. There are factors that contribute to the severity of your damaged skin. For instance, you are more likely to get sunburn between 10 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon – this is when the sun’s rays are the strongest. Reflective surfaces (like white sand, water, concrete, snow and ice) can direct the sun’s rays onto your skin. Other factors of sunburn include:

• Season of the year – the summertime creates more sunburns
• Altitude – It’s easier to get sunburned at higher altitudes since there is less of the atmosphere to block the sunlight
• Closeness to the equator – More direct sunlight passes through the atmosphere when you are closer to the equator
• UV index – Checking the UV index of the day can tell you the risk of going out in the sun for the day

Sunburn Natural Cures

Preventing and quickly treating sunburn helps the skin heal quicker, lower your risk for skin cancer, and soothe any accompanying symptoms, such as blisters. If you’re looking for natural cures for sunburn instead of relying on over-the-counter products, you may want to consider some of the following suggestions:

a) Sandalwood:

The cooling properties of sandalwood can help treat a bad case of sunburn. Apply as a paste on the skin before going back out in the sun.

b) St. John’s Wort:

When St. John’s wort oil is mixed with a couple tablespoons of olive or almond oil, you can apply the mixture directly to sunburned parts of the skin for a soothing treatment. St. John’s wort provides anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antibacterial relief to your skin.



c) Sea Buckthorn:

After diluting a couple drops of sea buckthorn oil with olive oil or almond oil, you can rub the remedy into your damaged skin. Follow up with a repeat application 2, 8 and 24 hours later. The extract of sea buckthorn oil extract will assist the healing process and lessen the overall damage to your skin.

d) Tea Tree Oil:

After the second or third day following sunburn, you can use tea tree oil to heal and moisturize the skin and prevent scarring of severely damaged skin.

e) Honey:

Treat the pain of sunburn with an application of honey, which possesses antibacterial properties that help heal wounds. It is thought that the honey encourages the growth of new skin cells. Manuka honey is especially beneficial because of the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory power that it packs.

f) Oats:

An old natural remedy for sunburn is to apply oats to the skin. Oat extract possesses properties that fight inflammation. You can whip up a bowl of oatmeal, let it cool in the refrigerator, and then apply to burned skin.

g) Onion:

The juice of onions can help reduce the inflammation of sunburn by cooling the skin.

h) Peppermint Oil:

Add a few drops of peppermint oil to a bath to create a soothing soak for sunburned skin.

i) Lavender:

Add 40 drops of lavender oil to two ounce of carrier oil placed in a clean container. Blend the ingredients well, and then apply the oil to your sunburned skin.

j) Lavender and Chamomile Mix:

To soothe the burning sensation of damaged skin, create a healing bath by adding 8 drops lavender oil, 2 drops chamomile oil, 2 drops helichrysum oil, and 1 drop peppermint oil to a bathtub filled with cool water. Some people have enhanced their treatment by adding ice cubes to the water. Soak in the bath for 15 to 20 minutes. Repeat this luxuriating treatment every few hours until the pain subsides.

k) Aloe Vera:

The healing properties of aloe vera make an effective treatment for burned skin. Break off an aloe leaf from a plant, and apply the sap directly to affected skin.

l) Black Nightshade:

Crushing black nightshade leaves and stirring in heavy cream will create a healing mixture that treats sunburn.

m) Calendula:

To speed the healing process of sunburned skin, a cream made with crushed calendula flowers helps treat blisters, reduce inflammation, and promote the growth of new skin cells.

n) Comfrey:

Add one ounce of dried comfrey root to a saucepan with one pint of water. Bring the contents to a boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the remedy from the heat and let cool in the refrigerator before straining. Use a cotton ball to apply the natural cure to small patches of sunburned skin. If you’ve burned a great deal of skin, soaking a washcloth is a better method of application. This remedy should not be used on skin that has broken blisters.

o) Black Tea and Peppermint:

After brewing a pot of black tea, allow it to cool before straining the contents and transferring into a spray bottle. Add four drops of peppermint oil to every four ounces of tea. Shake the contents well, and then spray the mixture across your sunburned skin.

Resources

[1] http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/tc/sunburn-topic-overview
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/sunburn-remedies-natural-relief_n_897103.html#s306805&title=Honey