This is my first serious sunburn. Any advice?

Question

My arms and this triange of skin my v-neck top didn't cover are all red. My face is a little red, too, but I'm used to that.

How do I heal this? How long does this usually last? Will my skin be tanner after this or will it mercifully go back to its original color?

I will not go into detail about HOW this happened, for I know you would not appreciate the ranting, lol.

Answer 1

I am a red headed freckled faced pale skinned lady.

And I can tell you I am 110% used to sunburns.

You can use Ibuprofen for the pain and throbbing, I know it sounds weird but it really does help.

As for the skin itself… ALOE, ALOE, ALOE VERA.

You can get the spray kind or gel kind at Wall-greens.

They both come in a green bottle/can.

Keep it in the fridge so its super cold and feels super awesome when you apply it to your skin.

Now I wish really, really wish that I could tell you if you were going to tan or not, but I only burn then freckle then stay pasty. So that part I have no idea dear. I hope this helps and if you have any other questions for me about this feel free to ask. :]

  

Answer 2

You'll have it for at least a week... if not longer.  Aloe vera and soothing lotions are good.  Because it was a bad sunburn, you'll need to be careful.  Put on extra sunscreen in that area whenever you're outside for long periods of time... it only takes three bad sunburns in any given area for some people (not all) to start developing cancer cells.

And also, no, you won't tan.  You'll go back to your original color.

Answer 3

The advice about using aloe vera is spot on and so is the advice about moisturiser - especially if you don't have any aloe handy to use. So is the advice about drinking plenty of water to which you can also add some paracetemol for relief from the pain and stinging.

I would also advise that as soon as you can after finding your sunburn that you get under either a cool shower or tepid (barely warm) shower to help cool your skin down and repeat for relief if needed

Then apply the aloe or moisturiser

Next time you go out in the sun - do the slip, slop, slap - slip on a shirt to cover up, slop on plenty of sunscreen and reapply at regular intervals and also slap on a hat preferably a very wide brimmed one - prevention is better than sunburn any day and far better than having to have skin cancers cut out or burned off with liquid nitrogen any day later on - sometimes the damage does not show up immediately but can take up to 20 years to show up

Here are two websites with good advice to help you  

Answer 4

Hi. I've been sun-burned many of times so trust me i know this. It'll probably take a few days for your sun-burn to go away. Make sure you put lots of lotion on it to keep it moist so you don't peel! That's a biggy. Another thing to keep in mind, drink lots of water so you don't become de-hydrated because that tends to happen a lot when you have sun-burns. If you have an aloe vera plant, i would rub the aloe on, or possibly even get aloe vera gel, because that'll take out the heat and reduce the healing time. If you are really white, your skin will most likely go back to its original color, but if you're not pasty white you should get a tan after the sun-burn heals. Hope this helped!!! Don't take ibuprofen because that's bad for you and can de-hydrate you as well. The same goes for wet tea-bags. Some people swear by those two remedies but it's bad for you trust me! Just get aloe vera gel and you'll be fine, but don't keep it in the fridge. If might feel better, but cold closes your pores so it closes in the heat. Just keep the aloe vera gel at room temperature, it's the best for you and will help you heal the fastest. If you have any questions just add details and i'll try to answer them. Hope you start feeling better!