As you bid farewell to the season of heat and sweat, we are sure you will not miss it too much. But if the season has left an unwelcome souvenir in the form of sunburn, we hope you know what to do to take care of it. Sunburn can get itchy real fast and that feeling of wanting to scratch that itch and knowing you should not is torture!
Scratching can cause scarring and further irritate your skin. Not just that, it may lead to infections also, so avoid scratching that sunburn and do this instead.
- Moisturise the affected area
- Get some help from your local pharmacy
- Cool down your skin
- Stay hydrated
- Prevention is better than cure
Moisturise the affected area
Use mild, fragrance-free moisturisers to calm the skin down. Opt for moisturisers with aloe vera, oats or vitamin E, as they are the most calming. Avoid petroleum-based or oil-based products as they will not let the skin breathe.
Get some help from your local pharmacy
A over the counter medicated cream which has hydrocortisone will help your skin a great deal. Get your local pharmacist to give you a 1% hydrocortisone cream and gently apply it on your sunburn.
Cool down your skin
Soak in a bath tub filled with cold water or take a shower with cold water or soak a soft cloth in cold water and give yourself a cold compress. This will soothe the sunburnt, irritated skin.
Stay hydrated
When your skin is compromised by sunburn, you tend to lose extra water. So stay hydrated and make sure you replenish your body with fluids. Sunburn takes time to heal, but doing this will aid the process.
Prevention is better than cure
We have listed some things you can do soothe your sunburn, but it is a condition best avoided. So always wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum of SPF 30 and keep re-applying it every 2-3 hours.
Image courtesy: Pinterest
Written by Harshitha Prabhakar on Jun 11, 2019