Imagine a situation: you have been planning a vacation for a long time, buying clothes, carefully choosing a country for your vacation, looking forward to the day of your departure, and now, finally, it happened! You lie on the soft sand, enjoy the sound of the waves, listen to the cries of seagulls, and in the evening return to the hotel in a great mood and notice suspicious redness on your skin. Another hour passes, and you realize with horror that you were burned on the first day of your vacation. The rest seems hopelessly ruined. But take your time to get upset. Here's how to ease the pain of sunburn and enjoy your trip as if nothing had happened.
1. Cool down
According to Novate.ru, the first thing to do when you notice a burn is to cool it down under the pressure of ice cold water. Yes, the sensations will not be the most pleasant, but the result is worth it. This is not a folk method, but a doctor's recommendation, so do not doubt its effectiveness. If you are unable to take a cold shower, then soak a towel in drinking water and apply to the burn site. As soon as it heats up, repeat all over again. The compress will need to be changed several times until a feeling of relief comes.
2. Restore water balance
If the sun has given you a hot kiss of ultraviolet light, drink as much water as possible. Just buy regular mineral water, not soda. Such a simple action will eliminate two problems at once: firstly, it will restore the water balance and eliminate dehydration of the body, and, secondly, it will help relieve the first symptoms of fever. As for alcohol, you will temporarily have to forget about it. Even a harmless glass of champagne will cause dehydration and exacerbate health problems.
3. Treat the burn with panthenol
Pharmacy products are far from always effective, but at the same time, their price is not available to every wallet. However, when you are badly burned, you should not try to help yourself with folk medicines, such as sour cream or kefir. Better buy medicines based on panthenol - they can really be good helpers in the fight against sunburn. So always keep these funds in the first aid kit, they definitely will not be superfluous.
4. Do you have aloe? Use
If there is no panthenol at home, and all pharmacies are already closed or are at a great distance, use aloe. These can be plant-based medicines or juice independently extracted from the pulp. The result will not be as good as with panthenol, but still aloe is better than nothing.
5. Forget about sour cream and kefir
And here are the folk remedies arrived in time. Contrary to popular belief that sour cream, kefir and other fermented milk products are excellent at fighting burns, in fact this is a myth. They will not only become completely useless in a situation where you are burned, but they can also do harm. These foods can clog pores and also block the sebaceous glands. There is another option, not a very pleasant outcome - sour cream or kefir can cause a bacterial infection.
6. Drink an analgesic
The sensations that arise with sunburn, frankly, are not very pleasant. You do not need to endure pain, it is better to drink non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The most inexpensive and readily available drugs are ibuprofen or paracetamol. Once again, we draw your attention to the fact that you cannot drink alcohol during this period, and even more so as an anesthetic.
7. Relieve allergic edema
During burning, we receive a certain overdose of the sun's rays, as a result of which allergic edema appears. To eliminate it in a short time, you need to take a pill of Loratadin or Suprastin. If the medicine did not work, or it simply did not appear in the first-aid kit, then use an antihistamine ointment, for example, Levomekol. The gel should be applied to the damaged area of the skin and a gauze bandage should be applied on top to improve the effect.
8. Give up tea and coffee
During the period when you will be treating sunburn, you can only drink water. Tea and coffee, as well as alcohol, should temporarily disappear from your diet. The reason is the same - the likelihood of dehydration. If you cannot live a day without a cup of tea, then, as an exception, you can brew herbal tea - chamomile, mint.
9. Help yourself with antioxidants
You can speed up the process of skin regeneration with the help of vitamins A, C, E. They are freely available at the pharmacy, so don’t spare 100 rubles and buy these drugs. They will need to be drunk in the dosages indicated in the instructions for 14-20 days. Believe me, the body will thank you for this antioxidant support and will return to normal faster.
10. Buy quality sunscreen
By the way, maybe you got burned not because you lay on the beach for a long time, but because you bought a bad cream with SPF? Experts advise when choosing a sunscreen, be sure to look at its composition. If there is no zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which, in fact, are the only components that can protect against ultraviolet radiation, then the cream is a real "dummy".
In order for the rest to be wonderful, you need not only to correctly treat sunburns, but also to eat well. Read how to do this in the article. 10 simple rules to help you eat right while on vacation