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Take a cool bath with vinegar in the water. It may stink, but it will remove some of the sting.
Posts: 279 | Registered: May 2004
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Never eaten steroid cream, either. OTOH, if I didn't already know that the vinegar was to be applied topically, your list might leave that in question. And if I figured THAT out, I'd be back to wondering about the aspirin.
Actually, applying aspirin topically could work too.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Hawian Tropic has stuff called I.C.E. that cools down a burn, and helps you get better faster...I have also found it can keep borderline burns from pealing (though of you are really burned it won't stop it).
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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Any of the aftersun aloe gel with lidocaine works WONDERFULLY. Banana Boat makes some of that.
For sunscreen, I highly recommend BullFrog. When I worked 8hrs/day in the sun, BullFrog kept me from getting burned and I have sensitive skin as well.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Lidocaine (and the other -caines) should be used sparingly. Regular use can lead to resistance to their anesthetic affects.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Tea. As in bathing in tea. Boil up ~2quarts/liters of very very strong tea (you're interested in the tannins, not drinking it, so you can boil the tea leaves/bags to make the tea stronger), then dump it in the tub, and add cold water until the bath is tepid. Then continue to add tepid water until the level barely covers your body. Cover or continuously drench your face with a soft cloth dipped in the bath.
Or a vinegar bath. About two cups in the tub with tepid water barely sufficient to cover the body. Cover or continuously drench your face with a soft cloth dipped in the bath.
The vinegar works slightly better than the tea bath at preventing/lessening blistering and preventing/slowing the skin from peeling off: ie in strips, before the next skin layer is ready to take over the job. But does have a lingering odor; not a bad or strong odor but nonetheless noticible.
Rinse off gently with a short cool&light shower, then cover the sunburn area with a VitaminE cream (I think Desitin also works) Take VitaminC orally. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * And above all else: USE sunblock the next time. Water proof: there are plenty of products like BullFrog and various zinc oxides for surfers and lifeguards. Don't worry, you'll just look cool&professional in "war paint".
Tans may look nice when you are young, but sunburns can cause skin cancer, especially deep blistering sunburns. Excluding that, easily sunburnable skin becomes very very leathery-looking as one ages because of long-term damage to the sub-surface skin layers.
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Lupus, that ICE stuff is wonderful!! I love it and it's so soothing on a sunburn. I second that recommendation.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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My wife has a trick that makes aloe vera gel about ten times more effective. We keep ours in the refrigerator. It feels so amazingly good to put cold aloe vera on a fresh sunburn!
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I taught swimming lessons for four years. I feel your pain. I'd have to change my sheets every other day because of all the dead skin flaking off while lying in bed every night.
And if you've got truly fair skin it doesn't matter what brand or how much sunscreen you use, I know, I've tried them all. A good straw hat serves better than all the sunscreen in the world.
Your secret weapon:vinegar. Buy a gallon jug. It restores the pH of the burned skin somehow and works wonders.
It will stink and sting like HELL when you have someone apply it to your back, I reccommend either standing in the tub and having someone else either pour it on or having someone else apply it with a soft dripping washcloth. But after a few minutes the pain subsides (and you were already in a lot of pain if you try this cause I admit it is an extreme remedy) and you feel Soooooo much better. The first time you will do it you will think the pain is so bad you will never, ever try this stupid idea again. But you will after witnessing the results.
Let it stay on for at least an hour. I used to have my mom apply it before I went to bed at night and would just sleep with it. If you want wait the hour and then follow it up with aloe vera. Yeah I'd stink but the chlorine would wash the smell off anyway. If I slept overnight with the stuff, then I'd put aloevera on in the morning before morning workout swim practice.
It worked for me. It would only be around the end of July beginning of August that I'd finally tan enough that I'd stop burning. And then the summer was basically over, dagnnabbit.
AJ (I missed jalapenoman's and aspecter's posts since I just started typing as soon as I read the question. I apologize, they already suggested the vinegar route though I would use it full strength and not mess with a dilute bath.)
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Try vitamin E oil. Get the little capsules, and break them open, and rub it in like a lotion. It is very moisturizing, and you can definately see a difference overnight.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Ibuprofen is a great idea. Oh, and they now make sunblock up to spf 70, which is wonderful for my super-pale skin. Try it; the last time I used it, I went to Ozzfest and wandered around in the blistering sun all day, and everyone else (who already had tans) burned to a crisp, while I was fine.
Posts: 9057 | Registered: Nov 2000
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Some people who are sun sensitive will get a horrible rash from higher spfs. Anything above 30 will give me a rash. Sometimes even 30 will give me a rash.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I'm really pale, so I usually use 45 or higher. Until I started breaking out every time I used it, now I can't use anything higher than 30.
Try the vitamin E, probably the best thing you can do for sunburn is moisturize. You can also try freezing a paper towel to put on your burn if you want some cooling relief.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I read a study recently proving that your sunburn would be less severe if you took aspirin or ibuprofen (I forget which, but I think either would work being anti-inflammatories) immediately after going inside. Your skin continues to cook after you come in from the sun, killing the cells around the already dead/burned cells up to several hours afterwards.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Peel some taters. Chop em up real fine. Put em in some moist paper towels and use that as a compress. The raw taters helps draw the burn out.
Posts: 986 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I grew up hearing that after being out in the sun (sunbathing) you should take a cool shower. Basically for the same reasons Christy mentioned. It cools the skin, which continues to cook after you've gone inside. However, don't take the ibuprofen before going out in the sun. At certain doses, it can actually increase your sensitivity to the sun.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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OTOH, if I didn't already know that the vinegar was to be applied topically, your list might leave that in question. And if I figured THAT out, I'd be back to wondering about the aspirin. ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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