We have all from time-to-time got a bit carried away in the sunshine! Here are some top tips to ease mild sunburn and help your skin recover!
1. Apply one of these (hopefully readily available in your home!) foods to the burnt area:
- Aloe Vera. Apply either an aloe vera gel or juice directly from the plant onto your burnt skin. Not only is aloe vera extremely cooling and hydrating, it also has both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Cold milk or plain yoghurt. Apply this directly to the skin and leave for about 15 minutes, by which time it should have dried. You can then rinse it off gently with cold water. Not only will this cool the burnt skin, it also acts as an anti-inflammatory and the high protein, enzyme and probiotic content will help your skin to heal.
- Cold cucumber slices. The cooling effect of cold cucumber slices will help soothe sunburnt skin.
- Cold green tea, peppermint, camomile or black tea compresses. Make a compress by boiling some water and putting in the chosen tea bag. Let the tea completely cool before applying it to the affected area.
- Potato. Slice up some potato and put it directly onto the affected area. The starch based compounds within the potato can help calm the sunburnt area.
- Honey. Apply honey directly onto the skin, this will help to reduce any pain, promote healing and reduce the risk of skin infection.
2. Stay hydrated.
Make sure you drink a lot of non alcoholic beverages, preferably water, or consume high water content food such as watermelon to stay hydrated and help your skin heal.
3. Consume foods high in (or supplement):
- Vitamin C, vitamin E, omega 3 and zinc to help promote skin healing.
- Foods high in beta carotene (i.e. carrots, squash and sweet potato) and lycopene (i.e. tomatoes and watermelon) are also useful in helping the skin heal and are protective against future sunburn.
You should always seek medical attention for bad sunburn, especially if you have a high fever, experience extreme dehydration or acute pain for longer than 48 hours following a sunburn. You should also keep an eye out for any signs of skin infection and/or irritation.