Easy Sunburn Remedy: 10 Natural Remedies

A sunburn remedy isn’t always found at the drugstore. Anyone who has had sunburn at some time in their life knows how painful it can be, and how little relief one can get from “medicated” products. But did you also know that many natural remedies for sunburn can be found in your own pantry? Many simple ingredients offer not only short but long term effects for your poor scorched skin.

Ten Natural Sunburn Remedies

Lettuce:

Cinergy Health Medical Center director, Dr. Erika Schwartz recommends, “Take a head of lettuce, boil it in water, discard the leaves, and let the juice sit in the refrigerator.” Then, she explains the healing process of squeezing the juice onto cotton balls and applying it to the burn. Reapply to burn every couple hours as you feel its necessary.

Lettuce is rich in Vitamin C, which battles free radicals and has a ton of great antioxidants

Corn starch:

Dr. Schwartz notes that an application of corn starch powder in a manner similar to how you would treat an infant’s diaper rash is very beneficial to sunburned skin. She adds, “Dust it like powder and cover [the burn], leave it on until you shower.” Recommendation? Leave it applied for 24 – 48 hours.

Oatmeal:

Oatmeal is generally associated with breakfast noshing, but it also is linked to good skin health as well. Dr. Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, M.D., Ph.D explains, “This has been used in baths to help soothe atopic dermatitis (eczema) and poison ivy.”

For the treatment to work properly, she touts the Aveeno oatmeal bath packs, which are then poured into a warm, not hot, bath, then soaked for 15 minutes.

Cucumbers:

Cucumbers have always been placed on eyes to get rid of puffiness so using them for sunburn is the logical next step. According to Dr. Alexiades-Armenakas, this gourd family member does so well because, “Cucumbers have a lot of ions and minerals. To reduce the water content in the skin, slice cucumbers into thin rounds and place over sunburned eyelids for twenty minutes.”

Green tea:

“Green tea, once cooled can be applied to sunburned skin to reduce the redness,” states Dr. Alexiades-Armenakas. “This is scientifically proven. Or, you can place green tea in the refrigerator, put it into a spray bottle and spray it onto sun burnt skin.”

Cooled black tea bags are also a good option for scorched eyelids. Just apply to the area for 20 minute increments.

Dairy products:

Calcium is not just for your bones, says Alexiades-Armenakes, it also provides an excellent kitchen remedy for your poor skin. She explains that commercial milk baths and yogurt masks are not as good for your burn as a bath of goat yogurt or goat milk, as they tend to be “less apt to have high hormone levels.”

Another source, according to Svetlana Kogan, M.D., founder of The Doctors at Trump Place, is cold milk that has gone bad or cold sour cream. She states, “It’s a very good cooling effect for the skin.”

She recommends applying the sour cream to the sunburn for about 15 minutes for the full effect.

Fresh pickles:

Pickles have been used as a soothing agent for the skin for centuries, according to Dr. Kogan, whom adds, “This is partially due to the pH of the pickle. In fact, a lot of facial crèmes are based on pickles.”

Apply thinly sliced pickles for about 15 minutes(it doesn’t matter what kind), repeating the process several hours as you need to.

Eggs:

As a rich protein source, eggs have always been a star, but now experts are saying they are great for your skin as well. Founder of PATH Medical, Eric Braverman, M.D. reports that eggs are lovely for skin tightening.

“A little bit of egg treatment helps with inflammation.” comments Kristen N. Burris, L.Ac.M.S.T.O.M, a nationally celebrated herbalist and acupuncturist, “Crack an organic egg, discarding the egg white and yolk. Carefully remove the skin membrane from the shell and apply the sticky side to your burned skin. Allow the egg skin to dry on your burn and do not get it wet for two days. Eventually the egg will dissolve and your burns will be healed.”

Potatoes:

Overexposed skin can also benefit from a raw, mashed potato poultice(with the skin included), adds Burris. Her reasoning? She notes, “Potato reduces inflammation and has antibiotic properties healing burns and preventing infection.”

Strawberries:

Strawberries are used in many cooling summer recipes, so it follows that this yummy fruit would be used as a cooling aid for inflamed skin. They are soothing with their natural cooling agents and they create body fluids, which are essential in sunburn recovery, states Dr. Burris. “These yummy little berries packed full of Vitamin C and silicon: both essential for arterial and connective tissue repair.”