Sunburn! How to speed the recovery...

[Daze Off]

Believe it or not rubbing a wet tea bag on the burns takes the sting out of sunburn - something about the tannic acid in the tea causes it. I've used vinergar too and it also works but tea doesn't leave you smelling like salad dressing.

[JimBuck]

LOL! Salad dressing. Mmmm...the tea bag idea is great, I'm going to have to try that out.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Air,

Now you got me curious. How much vinegar do you add to the bath water.

Just straight vinegar. You can start buy soaking a wash cloth and then dab on the skin. Its just easier/less mess to do in the bath. Keep the areas wet for a couple of minutes and do not rinse . Let it air dry. wrap yourself in a sheet and hit the sack.

[federline]

HEre's a totally different take on it...

I was leading a group of boy scouts on a Florida Keys adventure for a week in the dead of summer, and we all had to start dealing with sunburn, no matter how much sunscreen we used, with all the snorkling and sweating we did.

The locals in the Keys all said don't bother with the aloe - go get a water-based "skin repair moisturizing lotion" with alpha-hydroxy or hydrocortisone, and pair it with drinking lots of water, together it rehydrates burning skin naturally fr4om the inside and outside at the same time, and take aspirin for exceptional pain, don't put it on your skin.

They said, if you start peeling, you aren't using enough water-based repair lotion or drinking enough water - they live by the "don't let it peel" rule to keep healthy skin for a lifetime. They believed that the aloe and painkiller topicals are some of the worst things you can do, because they are dehydrators and actually crisp your skin faster while they "fake" a cooler feel.

The vinegar works wonders, tho - acetic acid rehydrates your skin very fast, apply it whenever you want as often as you like. Once it dries onto your skin it doesn't smell that much at all. Its one of the best home remedies ever.

[jholland]

HEre's a totally different take on it...

The locals in the Keys all said don't bother with the aloe - go get a water-based "skin repair moisturizing lotion" with alpha-hydroxy or hydrocortisone, and pair it with drinking lots of water, together it rehydrates burning skin naturally fr4om the inside and outside at the same time, and take aspirin for exceptional pain, don't put it on your skin.

They said, if you start peeling, you aren't using enough water-based repair lotion or drinking enough water - they live by the "don't let it peel" rule to keep healthy skin for a lifetime.

When we went on our cruise in the Caribbean, we stopped on an island that we took a guided fishing trip on. Obviously got a lot of talking time with the guides, and this is also what they told us. One of the guys would just tell us "Just rehydrate yourself in every way" - the captain went into more detail and said drink a lot of water, take a cold bath, and use water-based lotion.

I have a hard time not trusting the people who spend 90% of their year under that sun.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Federline,

I took my two sons and 4 other scouts on the Florida Keys for their high adventure. I was a scoutmaster and both of my sons are Eagle Scouts. That was a great trip, we only had one scout who really burned while we were down there.

Windy