Painful Sunburn

Recently on vacation, I WAS wearing sunscreen and this happened (I reapplied, too)Regardless, ibuprofen, and aloe gel that has lanicane (sp) in it will help. AND time. It took about three days for the sting to go away. if it is taking longer, call the doctor and see if something else is going on.
so sorry:(

500mg of Tylenol every 4-6 hours, 400mg of ibuprofen every 6-8 hours. Write down when you take it so your don't underdose on Tylenol, or overdose on ibuprofen.

Drink lots of water and moisturize your skin. Take a cool shower and rub cocoa butter lotion in while your skin is still wet. Then air dry.

There's really nothing that you can put ON your skin to alleviate the pain. Tylenol and ibuprofen are the meds that will help the most. But you have to keep up on them and be sure you take them safely. Also, ensure you're eating and drinking enough. No crappy food or alcohol while you're body is trying to heal.

ETA: Please DO NOT take Tylenol and ibuprofen every two hours as advised above unless you'd like to be in the hospital with liver failure. That is effing RIDICULOUS advice and should be pulled off the board, in my opinion. Alternating....okay. But be SO careful of the maximum dosages over a 24 hour period. Do the math.

ETA2: And ABSOLUTELY NO to hot showers! Using hot water to "get the heat out" of a BURN is like saying you should apply snow to frostbitten hands to get the chill out! Absolutely NOT safe or recommended. Cool showers only!!

NO HOT SHOWERS!!! OMG- can you even imagine!?!?!?

Alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen (at appropriate doses) every 2 hours is a perfectly acceptable recommendation. As long as you read that to mean Tylenol at noon, Ibuprofen at 2p, Tylenol at 4p, Ibuprofen at 6p, etc (not one of them every hour). This is how most doctors recommend these 2 meds to effectively reduce fever and relieve multi-faceted pain.

Also, I used to burn a lot when I was a little girl, and my mom would do aloe, and then sit me in front of an old fashioned box fan. It really did help.

Aloe... Lots and lots of aloe...
Once the red comes out of it, you might moisturize with cocoa butter lotion.
Take cool showers...
You're just going to have to suffer through it...

I am very fair and I can burn easily (tan with sunscreen), but I know the feeling! Maybe try a cold shower and some advil? Aloe gel (I think they even sell a cooling aloe gel)? Other than that, I think you might just have to wait it out for a week until it goes away. Then you might also peel. Just stay moisturized with lotion, and aloe and take cold showers. Sorry!

go buy an aloe vera plant and cut the leaves open and slather yourself with the gel inside!

Don't put anything with oil on it – your lotion is possibly increasing the pain. As a very fair red-head who's had many deep, blistering burns in my childhood, the ONE thing that helped, though only for 20-30 minutes at a time, was vinegar. Takes that hot sting away. I have since learned that plain yogurt is almost as good. Aloe may help, and possibly speed the healing. Fresh off the plant is most effective, as the active ingredients are strongest then.

According to a study published in Science News several years ago, applying strong green tea (cooled) to a sunburn will help reduce the havoc that ultraviolet light wreaks on the skin's DNA, and so may possibly eliminate some of the long-term damage that sunburns do to the skin.

You may also experience muscle cramping and chills with a bad burn. Though this does pass in a few days, you'd do well to talk to a doctor or advice nurse about these symptoms. Drink plenty of fluids while your body is healing.

Hope you feel better soon.

Cool milk compresses. It sounds weird but it works. I have used this for years ( blonde, blue-eyed, fair skinned here).
Just soak gauze or a wash cloth in cool (not cold) milk. Apply to your sunburned areas several times a day.
Also, I would use ibuprofen instead of Tylenol. Ibuprofen helps with inflammation, and lasts longer than Tylenol.

Solarcaine with aloe, it is the best invention EVER! The aloe cools and encourages healing, the lidocaine numbs the area almost immediately, reapply as needed. It is a spray, so application is less painful too.

Tylenol and ibuprofen can be taken every two hours, just switch between the two and watch max dosages. Dr told me this so I think it's okay. Solarcaine with aloe helps cool and heal and will help with the itch when it starts to heal. Last time I was burned I used tea tree with aloe gel that really helped. Hubby was using ice packs for his legs since he was burned last Thursday. Daughter was burned a few weeks ago and a neighbor suggested cornstarch. Didn't get to try this one but it couldn't hurt. Also, don't use moisturizer until you peel. You lock in the heat and make it worse.

Noxzema. I rub in then rub more on top of burn and let it soak in.

DON'T TAKE A HOT SHOWER! That would not only hurt but you risk making it worse. Take a cool bath if you feel that it will relieve your pain.

I agree with the use of vinegar. It does take the sting away. You many very well have sun poisoning, which is why the pain is so intense. Fresh aloe will help some, but not completely. The only thing that's going to fix this is time. Hang in there!

DO NOT use anything with any oil in it. Lotions do have oil, make sure what ever you use is oil free, as the oil actually traps the heat under your skin and again can make the situation worse.

Regarding the Tylenol & Advil advice below, you can indeed take Tylenol and Advil alternating between the two every two hours. Doing this for a prolonged period (weeks) could cause long term damage to your liver, but doing it when you are in dire circumstances is not going to hurt you.

I hope you start feeling better soon.

I'm very fair and I have been in your painful situation a couple of times. I keep my aloe in the frig so it is nice a cold when I'm slathering it on. I also put on a large amount the first couple of days. I wear an old t-shirt, no bra, and try not to touch anything. I put the aloe on often. Tylenol for the pain. I also will take cool to cold baths. I just lay there and have my pity party and swear I will NEVER do that again!!

You should start feeling better in the next couple of days. Chances are you will peel.

if the ibuprofen isn't working, call your doc and ask him/her to call in a script for something stronger. topically, i have found the otc pure aloe sprays with the a cooling/soothing element can be very helpful. you can't over do it so use as much as you like. i have very fair skin and have a lifetime history of this sort of thing. thoughts to you while you heal, which you will. :-) S.

I would go to a dermatologist ASAP. Severe burns need to be seen and treated. Especially since even one bad burn, let alone a severe burn, can cause skin cancer.

This is gonna sound a little crazy ,but, it has worked in the past for me. Pour some white vinegar on yourself in the shower and then gently bath with a gentle soap/gel. It really does take out alot of the sting and then I used aloe with lidocaine in it and wear very loose clothing if possible ! I suffered for a week staying in bed with nothing but a sheet and taking cold showers, you can also pour the vinegar in a bath and just sit for a little while ! I feel for you, I've been there and I never forgot ! If you'll take tylenol or aspirin "before" getting in the sun ,this will also help prevent this kind of burn !C. S.

Brew some tea!
Dip thin cloth or paper towels in the cool tea & apply to your skin.

Also Noxema. I've used Noxema shaving cream in a pinch.

Good luck!

Get a can of dermoplast - it will help the pain.

Get some PURE aloe Gel.. you can get it at Whole Foods.. DONT get Aloe moisturizer, you want the real stuff.. Aloe is healing... I keep it in the kitchen... because it is good for burns you might get from cooking.. I keep in the Fridge, this way, it's nice and cool when applied..
I LOVE this stuff and have been using it for years. We also have an aloe plant in the backyard for which we can clip a stem and apply it that way... In addition to aloe, I do like Bactine.. not as alternative, but does do the trick...

Climate Control from Senegence skin care is AWESOME but expensive. It is a skin hydrating spray. Curel Lotion works wonders too. Cool showers, vinegar baths, loose clothing, tylenol or advil. Hope the pain is gone soon and ALWAYS use sunscreen. I use the spray and it does not take a ton of it! Just a quick spray will prevent burns.

Keep taking Tylenol and get some pure aloe. Cool compresses or baths will also help. I don't think there is much else you can do. Be careful of different chemicals in lotions that can cause more irritation to your already burned skin.

This is going to hurt but you need to take a hot shower! As hot as you can stand it...it will pull out the heat...then by a bottle or 2 of vinegar and dump them in a bath and soak yourself! Then once you get out apply medicated Aloe Vera (they sell some with lidocaine) generously apply, apply, apply. It will probably soak right in, just keep applying it as often as you can!

Take some Tylenol, Aleve, or Ibuprofin, whichever works best for you?

Rinse & Repeat until you feel better!

Hot Shower
Vinegar Bath
Aloe Vera with Lidocaine!!!!

Stay on Advil for a couple of days. It's an anti-inflammatory and pain reducer.

Ow!
I haven't had that bad a burn in years but I remember how badly that can sting.
It's agony!
Aspirin works better for me than any other pain reliever.
Your skin is damaged and dying and blood is rushing to the injury to try to help heal it, so a blood thinner helps move things along.
Take an Epsom salt bath - tepid water and add 2 cups of Epsom salts - it's very soothing - soak as long as you can.
Start taking vitamin E regularly - it helps with rebuilding your skin (the burn killed off a layer or two so you have to grow new) and continued use helps maintain your skins elasticity.

You know how on an airplane, they say 'put your own oxygen mask on first, then your kids?' Next time, put your sunscreen on first! :)

I'm sorry you are in so much pain- I really feel for you! Great advice so far.

Definitely agree with Tylenol and Motrin and TONS of water to drink. Get as much rest as you can and let your body heal, even if that means cancelling some activities.

I would also get some liquid soap (I use Tone with cocoa butter) with extra moisturizers in it and one of those shower puffs for AFTER your skin heals. It will help exfoliate all of the dead skin and put some down some softeners to help prevent your skin from drying out.

Take care- hope you feel better soon!

Go to a doctor. A sun burn is still a burn! If you were burned this badly by a fire you would not sit around waiting for it to pass.

In the meantime sit in a tub of water as warm as you can tolerate with teabags. Tannin in the tea helps w the pain and helps lower the skin temp. Moisturizing lotions are often a bad idea for a very bad burn as they keep the skin temp too high and you are moisturizing skin that is still "burning". rather than cooling it off like you would a regular burn.

You are burned. Probably at least 2nd degree. Blisters will not show up yet. But, if it is this painful you should probably see the doctor.

Milk of Magnesia. No kidding, it works. Soak handtowels in the Milk of Magnesia, lay them on your skin, keep them wet with the MOM. This will draw out the heat, and prevent blisering. A pharmasist in Florida gave me this info years ago, it works. Also, keep using the Tylenol/Ibuprophen to help with the pain and to reduce fever and swelling of the tissue.

I've had my share of bad sunburns! Not fun! A few years ago I had one with blisters, so I called my doctor. He thought ibuprofen was more helpful than Tylenol (but do what works).

Solarcaine is fabulous!!! It cools and numbs the area. Best stuff ever!!!

I have never been burned but I do have a friend with fair skin who has burned and she said that Ponds Cold Cream works wonders within a few hours.

We were in FL at the time and in a cab with another family with a sunburned child when she shared this info with the other mom.

It can't hurt to try it and I didn't see it posted. However, if I were burned as you say you are, I would be going to a dermatologist today.

Bless your heart.
That is the worst pain!

From now on, have your children help you with the sunscreen.. Our daughter loved being our sunscreen helper, when she was young. Now she orders me to remember my sunscreen!

As we mature our skin changes. You need to be extra careful..

Here is an article about how to treat sunburns..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/sunburn-remedies...

I would say try to put vinigar on it. And aloe. I get burnt really bad a lot and have a great lotion but it's not one that can be found in a store you have to order it from Arbonne. But when I don't have it I do vinigar.

I got a really bad one last year. I used diaper rash cream on it. I saw it on Pinterest. Anyway, you just put diaper cream on the burn, within an hour or 2 the sting was completely gone. I would do it when you're not going to be leaving the house because the diaper cream doesn't rub all the way in but it works.

I also read on pinterest to use black tea bags. That was going to be my next thing if the diaper cream didn't work.

I would go to the Doctor.
A sunburn.... is a burn. A skin burn.
And yours seems to be, very bad.

You need to go to the Doctor.