Sunburn

When you think of summer, you think of sunshine, beach, sunscreen and unfortunately sunburns. Everyone has experienced a sunburn once in their life (with exceptions, since there are always exceptions in life). It's painful, uncomfortable, and just really unpleasent. And the worse of all, you don't notice it until after you've been exposed to the sun all day. Technically, a sunburn is "an acute, delayed, and transient inflammatory response of the skin to excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from natural sunlight or artificial sources," (UptoDate 2013) . And both types of the UV radiations (UVA and UVB) can cause sunburn. Now the question is, how to deal with it?

Management of Mild to Moderate Sunburn

There is no such thing as a magic pill or lotion that will make the sunburn heal faster or reverse the damages caused by the UV radiation. The only things you can do is provide relief to the sunburn through cool compresses/soaks, calamine lotion, and/or aloe vera based-gels. Of course there's also a lot of home remedies that people have used for sunburns, such as applying yogurt, oatmeal, and even milk to the skin. I have tried yogurt before, and it worked for a little while. It's a little messy to be covered in this pink purplish gooey stuff (I had only berry yogurt at the time), but it felt nice. In addition, oral nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and indomethacin, can be used for pain and inflammation. People have used topical corticosteroids but it's not recommended since there is little evidence that they work at reducing symptons and healing time of sunburns. But most importantly, make sure to drink lots of water.

Management of Severe Sunburn

If you have a severe sunburn please visit the hospital or an acute care clinic since you may need fluid replacement and intravenous pain medication. Severe symptoms may include but not limited to: extensive blistering, severe pain, and systemic symptoms (such as fever, headache, vomiting, and/or dehydration). If you have blisters, that area should be cleaned with mild soap and water, and then covered with sterile dressing.

Sources

Young AR, and Tewari A. "Sunburn" UptoDate. 1 May 2013