Your skin can burn if you are exposed to a lot of sunlight without proper protection from sunscreen and clothing. To help heal and soothe stinging skin, it's important to start treating a sunburn as soon as you notice it.
Follow these tips from board-certified dermatologists of the American Academy of Dermatology [s].
Sunburn treatment
The first thing you should do is get out of the sun and preferably indoors. Once indoors, these dermatologists' tips can help ease the discomfort:
1. Take a shower
Take frequent cool baths or showers to help relieve the pain. Once you get out of the bathtub or shower, gently dry your body, but leave a little water on your skin.
Next, apply a moisturizer to help trap water in your skin. This can help relieve dehydration.
2. Use a moisturizer
Use a moisturizer containing aloe vera or soy to help soothe sunburned skin. If a particular area feels particularly uncomfortable, you may want to apply a hydrocortisone cream that you can buy over the counter.
Do not treat sunburns with "-caine" products (such as benzocaine), as they may irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction.
3. Pain medications
Consider taking aspirin or ibuprofen to help reduce swelling, redness, and discomfort.
See: 6 Tips to Reduce the Scar at Home
4. Drink more water
Sunburns draw fluids to the surface of the skin and away from the rest of the body. Drinking more water when you have a sunburn helps prevent dehydration.
5. If skin bubbles appear
If blisters appear on your skin, allow the bubbles to heal. Sore skin means you have a second degree sunburn.
The bubbles should not pop, as a bubble forms to help your skin heal and protect you from infection.
6. Necessary protection
Take care to protect sunburned skin while it recovers. Wear clothing that covers your skin when outside.
Tightly woven fabrics work best. When you hold the cloth by a bright light, you should not see any light passing through.
Summary
Although it may seem like a temporary condition, a sunburn caused by the skin's exposure to too much ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause long-term damage to the skin.
This damage increases a person's risk of developing skin cancer, which makes protecting the skin from the sun.
See: Acanthosis Nigricans: Signs, Symptoms, Causes and Treatment