My husband just got back from visiting family, and he has a bad sunburn on his upper back/shoulders. (Very red with a few blisters) What remedies work? He can't use aloe.
Take some ibuprofen to help with the pain. Then you can do cool cloth compresses, perhaps one of those benzocaine sprays?
Time. The best thing I've found so far for severe sunburn is 'all of the above' plus sleep. Take a good dose of Tylenol PM etc. (+1 on any analgesic) and go to bed. Severe sunburn is absolutely miserable.
try this Bourdeaux's butt paste. Get it at Walmart or drugstore. In the baby section. I swear it works on everything. Just disregard the butt part, I put it on my kid's face. (And no, he is not that ugly They had sunburned cheeks and shoulders, worked great. Also good for bathing suit rash.
Real Aloe Vera juice directly from the plant. You can find the plants at Lowes, most garden centers or the Farmers Mkt. Split a leaf open and rub on the burned area. I have heard that cool vinegar compresses take the heat out of a sunburn, but have never tried it personally b/c we keep aloe plants year round for burns or bug bites.
That reminded me of the time I got Preparation H and Proper PH confused. Sure enough, it cleared up the zits on my butt and my nose started shrinking.
I remember years ago my mom had a really bad sunburn when she went to the beach with a friend and she always told stories about taking a yogurt-bath. I think that was an exaggeration about taking a bath in yogurt, but... it is used as a sunburn remedy. https://botanical.com/site/by_you/acandee_burns.html This website has some other remedies that are non-aloe.
:iagree: I third that. First time someone told me to do that I thought they were crazy, but it works!
I use Noxema, slathered onto the sunburn really thick, and then just let it absorb, then reapply.Try taking a cool shower first and then put the Noxema on. My kids always ask for this too, it seems like it really helps draw out the heat.
Always used Solarcaine...which is good for mosquito bites, too. I was also introduced to a sunscreen last summer that seems to work awesome...Blue Lizard. Bought it at the dermatologist. The bottle turns blue in UV light to let you know when you need it and its pretty stout in water. Once dried in, it's supposed to last up to 2 hours when in the water...longer if you stay out of the water. We went to Myrtle Waves in the heat of the day last year. We were running a bit low on Blue Lizard and my wife and I decided to use it on our son. We used a spray sunscreen. Honestly, we didn't go back and reapply like we should have and were there at least for four hours, in and out of the water. Both me and her got a decent sunburn. He got pink. It made me a believer.
We've had good luck with the spray sunscreens on our son, he's never had a burn and we spend a lot of time out in the sun during the summer at the pool. Target brand is just as good and considerably less espensive. I am really, really militant about putting it on him though and re-applying as directed, I remember getting terribly sunburned as a kid in FL and it was incredibly painful. I am not nearly so good at keeping up with it myself, but I am determined he won't get burned.
