Frugal Friday #15: 10 Thrifty Sunburn Remedies
July 13, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under frugal friday, frugal living, health, household product
Seeing this picture makes me hurt. Of course, it is better to prevent a sunburn than to treat one. At one time or another, I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves vulnerable to the effects of the sun. For moments like these, try these thrifty home rememedies. Most of these frugal ingredients you probably already have at home.
1. Apply apple cider vinegar to the burn with a cottonball, or make a cool compress. Keep the skin moistened. This remedy will help prevent blistering and peeling.
2. Brew tea and refrigerate to cool. Once it is cool, put it in a spray bottle and spray on sunburn or dip a washcloth in the tea and dab. You can also take a bath in brewed tea once it has cooled.
3. Aloe is effective in relieving pain and inflammation. Take the leaves from an aloe plant and refrigerate them. Peel off the top layer of the leaf and place leaf on the sunburn. You can also apply aloe vera juice.
4. Put Maalox on a cotton ball or washcloth and apply to sunburn. Let it dry on your skin. This works to take out the heat and pain.
5. Take aspirin within 24 hours of getting sunburned. The aspirin will help with the inflammation and pain.
6. Take a bath in oatmeal. Put some oatmeal in a sock and tie it shut. While in the bath, squeeze the oatmeal milk on your skin. (I also use this remedy during the winter months with my eczema.)
7. Place peeled and sliced cucumbers on burned skin. Remove when they become warm.
8. To speed the healing process, take Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and flaxseed oil. You can also break open Vitamin E capsules and squeeze onto your skin.
9. Make compresses with baking soda and water or add baking soda to cool bath water and soak. Baking soda is cooling and will help retain moisture in skin.
10. Apply cold yogurt to the burn. Rinse when it becomes warm. The coolness of the yogurt and the fat will soothe the skin. Strawberries are also recommended for sunburns, so you could use strawberry yogurt or mix fresh strawberries with the yogurt.
Other tips: Do not cover a sunburn with ointments, salves, or butter. Drink plenty of water to hydrate your skin. Oatmeal and baking soda are good remedies for people with sensitive skin.
Hi I haven’t had a bad sunburn in at least 15 years, I don’t do the sun and I am anti-tanorexic as far as tanning beds go. :0) When I last got burned I soaked in a very cool to cold tub several times the initial burn day- that worked much like running cold water over a burn. Also I just wanted to point out the aspirin suggestion is really good, but tylenol works just as well. AND if your children get burned give them their weight measured dose of tylenol to help relieve the pain- but NO aspirin due to Reyes Syndrome. -Michelle Smart not Cheap
I’m not much for getting in the sun either. My make-up foundation even has sun protection in it. I’m not wanting to put any wrinkles on my face any time soon. lol
I’ve read that aspirin is better for sunburns because it helps more with the inflammation. Of course, I wouldn’t want to give it to my kids.
I did get burned about 2-3 years ago on accident. We were out site seeing while on vacation. We had worn sunscreen all the other days. Not sure what happened that day. We must have expected to be inside all day.
Your post on sunburn remedies has been nominated by our GNMParents for Hot Stuff Of The Week! Congrats, and good luck in the voting!!
Thanks Stu!
Great, great common sense stuff. There was a lot of old-fashioned remedies. Where’d she get all the knowledge of this stuff. Very well informed article that can be used by everyone. I didn’t like the picture though, it made my back hurt too.
unfortunately, i got burned this past week. i’ve been using the solarcaine gel. it has lidocaine mixed with aloe vera gel. this seems to helping for the pain but not much for the peeling and dryness. i’ve been using the medicated aveeno lotion for the dryness.
Don’t forget ibuprofen, it is probably the best OTC anti-inflammatory and it works well for sunburns and can be given to children. It is less likely to cause stomach upset than aspirin.
Great suggestions!
Whenever my cousin and I got sunburnt at my gradmother’s house, she would always get a washcloth for each of us, soak it in vinegar, and then put it on the sunburned area. This drew out the heat and helped with the pain. We would do this for about 30 min at a time several times a day.
Don’t try to prevent peeling. Its the bodies way of getting rid of severely DNA damaged (ie potentially cancerous) skin cells. While it doesn’t prevent cancer as the damage can go much deeper, peeling will give you better odds.