Natural Remedies for Sunburn

As the fabulous weather comes to an end it seemed some tips for how to treat sunburn naturally might be useful!

• Aloe – Using the juice of the leaf of an Aloe plant is probably the most well known of natural sunburn treatments, it relieves the discomfort of sunburn and speeds up the healing process. If you are using a commercial product rather than the fresh juice itself try and get one that has no other additives and is 100% Aloe.

• Bicarbonate of soda – the alkalinity of bicarbonate of soda can soothe the skin. Try putting a ½ cup in a warm bath and soaking for 30 minutes.

• Apple Cider vinegar cold compress applied to the affected area also has a very nice, soothing effect.

• A cream with any of the following herbs can prove effective in relieving the pain and moisturising the area allowing it to heal itself – Calendula, Chamomile, Lavender, Tea Tree, Chickweed, Cleavers, Comfrey and St John’s Wort*. *Note – don’t apply St John’s Wort to skin before going into the sun, it can increase the skin’s sensitivity to the sun.

• Honey – antiseptic and anti-inflammatory – it soothers and protects the skin from infection and allows the skin to heal quickly.

• Banana skin – can be used to cool any hot, itchy skin inflammation such as sunburn, insect bites etc. Just rub into the afflicted area.

• Mashed figs – can be applied to skin eruptions and burns to help soothe and heal due to its emollient property.

Don’t forget! It’s easy to get carried away in the sunshine and forget some of the basics for protecting ourselves especially with the long winter just behind us…

• Keep your protect your eyes with UV filter sunglasses.

Protect your skin from over exposure to the sun with SPF.

• Don’t expose burnt skin to sunlight until its fully healed or you risk giving yourself more serious burns.

• Keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

Enjoy soaking up that lovely sunshine when it returns and replenishing your Vitamin D stores.