Natural Sunburn Remedies: How to Get Rid of a Sunburn
Here are 20 remedies for sunburn relief and treatment. If you have a minor sunburn—where the skin is red or sore but not blistered or broken—try one of these sunburn remedies to help soothe your pain!
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.
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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 sun safety tips for advice on preventing overexposure.
What is your favorite way to treat a sunburn?
Catherine Boeckmann
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Try Lipton tea bags. Moisten the tea bag(s) and place it on the burn area for a half minute move it over and repeat over your sunburn. But as noted below aloe works also. I also use “Triple skin oil” from Ascended Health to help heal the skin
Great tip; thanks for sharing!
I have tried them all, and NOTHING works as well as 100% pure aloe vera gel. It takes away the redness, removes the heat and prevents me from peeling, and keeps the area from becoming sore!!! I apply it as soon as I get out of the sun and have taken a shower. Shower with warm, NOT HOT, water, as this will only exacerbate the burned area(s)!!! Apply a good moisturizing oil, BEFORE going into the sun, but most of all, be wise about how long to stay exposed to the sun, without wearing protective clothing, e. g., hats and long-sleeved shirts. Use your sanctified mind so that you can enjoy the summer without a discomforting sunburn.
Make a mixture of organic coconut oil and raw honey, local if possible. Spread on affected area. If applied as soon as possible, this usually keeps the area from blistering. It works on my grandkids. We've been using this for years.
Good old fashioned Milk of Magnesia works very well for sunburns. Keep a bottle in the refrigerator and apply as needed.
Put 1/4 cup of cider vinegar in a bowl of ice water and dip wash cloths in the mix, wring out and place on burned are until the cloth is no longer cold. Repeat until the the heat has been drawn out of the burn. It works like a charm.
I have tried the boiling water and salt and its works. Am very happy about how I feel with my eye immediately.
Regards Hashmanis.com.pk/
Do not use full strength peppermint oil! Noxema (or any generic) medicated cream always worked well for me. Aloe vera as well. I had a huge blister on my hand once (the size of a quarter) from swinging a hammer all day. We wrapped it with an aloe leaf and the next morning the blister was gone!
Thank you for your feedback: We have revised the text so that it is clear one should use a diluted solution of peppermint oil. Thanks, too, for the aloe leaf tip!
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