Got scorched by the summer sun? Don’t sweat it—your relief is just a pantry away. Whether it’s aloe, vinegar, or grated potatoes (yes, really), these time-tested sunburn remedies will cool you down and get your skin back to chill mode in no time. Let’s turn that lobster look into a sun-kissed glow, with zero blister drama.
Sunburn relief is an important part of summer life. Sunburns can be itchy, painful, and irritating. The good news is that treating sunburns is actually much easier than you might think when using these natural remedies.
As the days begin to shorten,
So the heat begins to scorch ‘em.
Sunburn Remedies: How to Get Rid of a Sunburn
- “If you get a sunburn, restore your energy with salt tablets or hot tea, which will pep you up and cool you off as well as or better than a cold drink.” –The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1945
- “A simple and harmless remedy for sunburn is to bathe the face in buttermilk.” –The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1898
- Wash gently with soap and water and then apply the gel of an older aloe vera leaf, splitting the leaf open lengthwise for the quantity required. See more about aloe vera’s soothing properties.
- Apply a mild infusion of purple coneflower (also known as echinacea) to destroy bacteria and soothe the skin.
- Grate potatoes and apply to sunburned skin. The starch will cool and soothe the burn.
- Use apple cider vinegar, plain or diluted, to ease a sunburn.
- Make an ointment or salve with the essential oil of Saint John’s wort to promote the healing of burns that haven’t broken the skin. It is not only anti-inflammatory but also antiviral and antibacterial.
- Apply plain yogurt with live cultures or coconut oil to your sunburn.
- Dissolve Epsom salt or baking soda in water, apply to a clean cloth, and drape the cloth over the affected skin. Explore more unexpected household uses for baking soda.
- Take a cool bath, adding lavender or bergamot oil to the bath water.
- Add some black or green tea to your bathwater to soothe sunburned skin. Or pat sunburned skin with wet tea bags.
- Mix 1 cup of water and 20 to 25 drops of lavender oil and use to bathe the sunburned area. You can also apply the solution with a spray bottle.
- Apply diluted peppermint oil to sunburned skin, as long as the skin isn’t blistered. Use a peppermint infusion as a milder wash to help cool a sunburn.
- Or/and make an infusion of cooling peppermint or spearmint tea. Drink it and use it to bathe the affected area.
- Apply a poultice of dock leaves and water.
- Bathe the sunburn with an infusion of stinging nettles, chamomile, or calendula.
- Native Americans infused ground yarrow in water and used it as a wash.
- Wash with an infusion of elder flowers or chickweed.
- Apply a compress of decocted witch hazel.
If your sunburn is itchy instead of painful, try oatmeal to ease the itch.
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As always, prevention is the best medicine. See our UV Index page and heat index calculator for advice on preventing overexposure.
What is your favorite way to treat a sunburn?
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Comments
This sounds intense. We are not health professionals, however, we know the pain will last a couple days. In these two days: Take pain relief. Also apply a hydrocortisone cream early on. Take cool baths or applying cool, wet compresses to sunburned areas several times a day. Adding 2 oz of baking soda to a tubful of water may help. Drink extra water.
DO NOT apply any other sprays or ointments which may trap the heat. Continue to apply aloe--they are types with pain relief.
Also, we find that using cider vinegar really helps. Applied full strength, cider vinegar will relieve and help prevent blisters from sunburns and minor burns.
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Kathy, This sounds unbearable. Sunburn is essentially radiation of the skin. Aloe vera to helps the burn heal faster. Also, try applying chilled Eucerin Calming Cream. Other than our natural remedies, consider anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprophen; these medications help block the release of interleukins, the skin's sunburn cytokine, and therefore reduce the amount of redness and pain. If you have severe sunburn with high pain/fever, heavy blistering, or it does not improve, call a determatologist or health professional.