Summer, sun ... sunburn? As soon as the sun appears in the sky, we are drawn outside. Whether it's hiking or climbing in the mountains or swimming and relaxing by the lake - as tempting as it is to feel the sun's rays on your skin and absorb their warmth, it can also happen very quickly that you burn. The first thing to do in the event of sunburn is to get out of the sun! If it has happened despite all precautions, various household remedies can provide initial relief. We'll tell you which ones.
Tips against sunburn
Severity of a sunburn
With a 1st degree sunburn, redness appears and the skin feels warm. There is often pain, itching and a feeling of tightness. These can be alleviated with various household remedies.
If a 2nd degree sunburn occurs, blisters also appear. In the case of a 3rd degree sunburn, the upper layer of the skin may peel off and there may be fever, chills, circulatory problems and nausea. If symptoms of the last two degrees occur, a doctor should be consulted immediately.
Our 3 household remedies for sunburn
Drink a lot
The burning of the skin by UV radiation increases its temperature and removes moisture from the body. Therefore, the intake of fluids is particularly important in the case of sunburn. Restoring the water and mineral balance with water and unsweetened teas accelerates the healing of sunburnt skin.
Cooling
A cool shower provides initial relief to cool the burning skin. Wet cloths provide further cooling. Alkaline baking soda powder can also be added to the water for a soothing effect. To do this, dissolve one tablespoon of baking soda per litre of water. The cloths or T-shirts soaked in it should be placed on the sunburnt skin to relieve the burning and itching.
A popular household remedy for sunburn is also conventional curd cheese. It can be used to make a cooling and soothing compress. To do this, the curd must be spread on the affected areas of skin and covered with a cloth. It should be noted that the curd compress should not be left on for longer than 15 minutes, as otherwise it will heat up and stimulate the blood circulation and eliminate the cooling effect. An alternative to curd cheese for sunburn is yoghurt.
Attention: In the case of severe sunburn, especially blisters, curd compresses should not be applied. The lactic acid bacteria can favour further inflammation and infection through open wounds.
Aloe Vera
The juice of the medicinal plant can help with the initial treatment of wounds. To do this, the leaves of the aloe vera plant must be cut open lengthways and the viscous leaf side applied directly to the burnt skin. These not only moisturise and relieve pain and itching, but also have an anti-inflammatory effect.