Most of us know about what it feels like to get a sunburn. Spending even a short time in the sun can be all it takes to get a serious, painful burn. Sunburn is an actual radiation burn of your skin. The ultraviolet light from the sun damages the DNA of your skin cells, causing apoptosis, which then triggers release of pro-inflammatory chemicals in your skin called cytokines, leading in turn to redness, swelling, and pain. Even if you get out of the sun once your skin starts turning pink, the sunburn continues to develop for 12 to 24 hours after the initial damage takes place.
It goes without saying that it would be best if we all knew enough to take care of our skin and never get a sunburn, or tan for that matter, but that isn’t realistic. So knowing how to take care of sunburn is essential, both to keep from making the problem worse and to help skin heal.
All burns need to be cooled to dissipate the heat simmering in the lower layers of skin and to reduce the resulting inflammation.
If your burn is serious or extremely painful, do not hesitate to find the nearest hospital emergency room. Heat trauma from sunburn can be a serious threat to your health.
Do not cover the burn with thick salves or ointments (butter is the worst). That will trap the heat and cause more damage.
Get the skin in contact with cool compresses immediately, but do not put ice directly on the skin—that’s too cold and can cause a different kind of burn. Then keep applying cool compresses on and off for several hours.
You can put pure aloe vera gel in your refrigerator and then apply that to skin. Aloe is helpful but not for the exaggerated reasons the cosmetics industry tells you. Aloe vera is nonocclusive and has some anti-inflammatory benefits that are very helpful for sunburned skin, and is far, far better than applying occlusive or overly fragrant moisturizers, which can impede healing—though Aloe vera is not a miracle plant, but it has its positive traits.
Do not soak the skin with water. Do not immerse yourself in a tub of water or shower for a long period of time. Too much water in the skin inhibits the skin’s healing response. (Source: Journal of Investigative Dermatology, May 2003, pages 750-758.)
It may also be an option to take ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory.