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Never ice a burn. The ice can cause further injury to already damaged skin.
Who among us hasn’t come in from a day at the beach bright red? Putting aside the fact that overexposure to the sun can increase your risk of cancer and age your skin, there’s still the sting, burn and eventual itch to contend with.
The trick is to cool the heat, stop the inflammation that causes the itch—and remember to wear plenty of sun block the next time.
Immediate Relief
When you’re hot to the touch, follow these steps:
- Soak in a cool bath to which you’ve added: 2 cups calendula tea, black tea or green tea (use two to four time the normal amount of leaves or bags to make a cup), 15 drops of lavender oil and 3 tablespoons of oatmeal tied up in muslim. If the burn is on your face, add the same ingredients, in one third or one quarter the amount, to a large bowl of cool water. Soak a cloth in the liquid and apply the cloth for several minutes.
- After your bath, apply the undiluted lavender essential oil directly to the burned area.
- Follow with an application of the sap from an aloe vera leaf. If you don’t have an aloe vera plant, use 100 percent aloe vera cream or lotion without fixatives. Only use the salve or cream and not the gel, which can be drying.
- Take 500 to 1000 milligrams of acetaminophen or 400 milligrams ibuprofen.
Why it Works
- Cool water soothes raw, hot areas and re-hydrates the skin. The ingredients you’ve added to your bath deliver extra benefits: lavender oil, calendula, and tea reduce the inflammation that contributes to the itching while the oatmeal soothes itching but also helps with the inflammation.
- Dabbing on lavender after your bath provides a strong dose of this anti-inflammatory herb.
- Aloe has long been used to soothe burns. It has ingredients that help with healing and pain relief while countering inflammation.
- Acetaminophen helps relieve pain as does ibuprofen, which also counters inflammation.
Other Medicines
St. John’s wort, calendula, comfrey: Salves, creams or ointments containing these soothing ingredients can be found at your local pharmacy. To boost their effect, mix 1 drop lavender and 1 drop chamomile oils into a small amount. Apply and then cover with a bandage or gauze.
Witch hazel: Add 5 to 10 drops of lavender oil per ounce of witch hazel and apply. You want the 10 percent witch hazel solution. Cold with hazel is even more soothing.
Plain yogurt: Apply to your skin for 15 to 20 minutes of cooling relief. Rinse with cool water and apply one of the ointments described above.
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Adapted from Best Remedies, Reader’s Digest US
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