How to soothe a sunburn?

As soon as you notice that your skin is red and irritated, it is best to quickly move away from the sun and seek shade to avoid exacerbating the burn or preventing the onset of other skin lesions. Similarly, avoid any further prolonged and repeated exposure to the sun during the healing period, which can further damage your skin. If you must go out, wear loose protective clothing and apply broad-spectrum sunscreen to all exposed areas in an attempt to protect your sunburn.

If your skin is blistering, this indicates that you have a second-degree sunburn. These blisters are an integral part of the healing process. Indeed, blisters aid skin healing and protect you from infections. Therefore, allow the regeneration to take its course and avoid bursting the blisters to prevent infection (red streaks or oozing pus) and scarring. For the same reason, if your skin begins to peel a few days after the initial burn, it is important not to scratch, peel off or remove the peeling skin but to let it fall off naturally.

If blisters have appeared, it is recommended to wash them with physiological saline, and to cover them with a hydrocolloid dressing.

Firstly, it is essential to cool the sunburn to alleviate the pain. Run cold or room temperature water over the burnt area to lower your skin's temperature and reduce inflammation for about fifteen minutes. However, ensure this is brief: excessive time in water can dry out the skin. If you're showering, also maintain a gentle water flow to avoid putting too much pressure on the affected skin. Similarly, avoid harsh soaps and do not exfoliate your skin during the healing period, as they could further irritate it.

You can add colloidal oatmeal, about a cup, to your baths to soothe sunburns. Research suggests that oat flakes have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

If the sunburn is not extensive, you can cool it down using a cold compress or a damp (non-iced) cloth by gently applying it to the affected area until your skin feels cooler to the touch (for approximately 15 to 30 minutes).

However, avoid applying an ice pack directly to the burnt area. This could lead to frostbite, thereby turning one injury into another.

After refreshing yourself, frequently apply a gentle and light moisturising lotion (fragrance-free, alcohol-free) over the entire affected area while your skin is still slightly damp to help retain moisture, provide a cooling sensation and promote cell regeneration, all without rubbing. This may notably contain aloe vera, which is ideal for soothing superficial burns.

With its thermoregulatory texture, our after-sun body emulsion contains aloe vera (INCI: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder) in its formula, as well as prebiotics, thus providing an immediate soothing effect.

Regarded as safe, the aloe vera contains aloin/barbaloin, which has anti-inflammatory properties. In an in vitro study, researchers demonstrated that aloin downregulates the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, as well as the production of nitric oxide, a mediator and regulator of inflammatory responses, through the negative regulation of the iNOS enzyme expression. This anti-inflammatory activity induced by aloin is primarily mediated by the inhibition of the NF-κB signalling pathway. The aloe vera also helps to hydrate the skin and prevent flaking.

However, avoid ointments and petroleum jelly which can trap heat and exacerbate the burn, as well as local anaesthetic creams such as benzocaine and lidocaine which can irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction, potentially worsening your inflammation and making healing more difficult.

Drinking water proves to be crucial in the event of sunburn. Indeed, sunburns dry out the skin, which forces it to draw fluids from other parts of your body towards your skin. Moreover, hydration also contributes to faster healing. Therefore, make sure to drink more water to avoid possible dehydration.

At the first signs of sunburn, you can take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin, to help alleviate discomfort and inflammation.

For a baby under one year of age, a sunburn should be treated as an emergency. Immediately contact your doctor or go to the emergency department. For a child of 1 year or older, call your doctor in case of severe pain, blisters, lethargy, or fever (> 38°C).

If you notice that your sunburn is not healing or improving after trying all these solutions, immediately consult a doctor. In some cases, it is better to see a doctor straight away, particularly if you have extensive severe blisters, if they are not healing or if they are worsening, if an infection has occurred, if your skin is numb, if you are experiencing intense and general pain, if you feel weak or confused, or if you have a fever, nausea, chills, headaches or dizziness.

It is important to understand that most sunburns of the first degree take at least a week to heal. On the other hand, more severe sunburns can take weeks, or even months, to heal.

• FEILY A. & al. Oatmeal in dermatology: a brief review. Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology (2012).

• BERTHELEMY S. Conseil à un patient se plaignant d'un coup de soleil. Actualités Pharmaceutiques (2013).

• XU N. & al. Aloin suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response and apoptosis by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB. Molecules (2018).

• CRANE J. S. & al. Sunburn. StatPearls (2023).