Measures against the pain
The first measure against the pain (and of course also against the remaining symptoms of sunburn) is sufficient cooling of the skin. At home you can cool the skin well with cold and moist compresses, for example with quark compresses. Moisturizing lotions can provide additional relief.
Since the body loses a lot of water in the event of burns, it is important to drink enough water or tea. The drinks should be lukewarm, this relieves the feeling of heat when sunburned. In addition, anti-inflammatory ointments and creams can effectively help with severe inflammation and pain.
These contain low concentrations of so-called glucocorticoids, which relieve inflammation. The glucocorticoids contained are hydrocortisone and betametasone valerate. They are used for local therapy.
These are anti-inflammatory substances. Ointments containing aloe vera or zinc provide additional cooling and relief. Zinc ointments also prevent the colonization of germs.
Fatty and oily ointments, on the other hand, should be avoided as they can additionally worsen the inflammation and, above all, do not improve the feeling of heat. It can also be useful to counteract the inflammation from within. Painkillers such as ibuprofen and aspirin have several important advantages.
They have a pain-relieving effect and thus provide acute relief from pain. Their effect also occurs very quickly. Furthermore, they not only have an analgesic effect (pain-relieving) but also an anti-inflammatory effect (anti-inflammatory). If blisters have already formed on the skin, an antiseptic can also be applied to prevent infection.After a sunburn, the skin needs time to regenerate. During the healing process, exposure to the sun should be strictly avoided for about three weeks.
Prophylaxis and consequences
A painful sunburn can fortunately be avoided by careful prophylaxis. In general, it is important to protect oneself sufficiently from UV radiation. Therefore, protection (sunscreen) should always be applied when exposed to the sun.
This protection must be refreshed from time to time and should not be applied too sparingly. Detailed explanations on the application are usually on the products. In addition, especially sensitive skin areas, such as the face or the elbows, should not be forgotten.
Sunburn can also occur very quickly in the shade and in water, so sun protection should not be neglected, especially in such supposedly safe situations. Furthermore, especially very light skin types should not be exposed to intensive sunlight for too long. It is most intensive in the time between 10:00 and 16:00 o’clock.
Therefore, adequate protection should be considered, especially in the midday sun. Sunburn not only causes reddening of the skin and pain. The danger lies in the “invisible” events of our skin. Especially childhood sunburns are considered the most important risk factors for the development of malignant skin cancer, the black melanoma. The cause for the development of the cancer is damage to the genetic material (DNA) of cells, which is caused by the UV radiation of the sun’s rays.
