Body Lotion Or After Sun Lotion: Which Is Better For Sunburn?
A body lotion is often on hand when it comes to alleviating sunburn. But is that the right product for it?
The body lotion is always ready and is often used for sunburns when there is no after sun product at hand. But does that make sense? What if there is no after sun lotion available? May I then Body Lotion apply?
Body lotion for sunburn?
Applying normal body lotion to sunburn can be counterproductive, because body lotion contains fat, which is deposited on the skin damaged by sunburn and can lead to heat build-up there, which only worsens the sunburn!
So if you have “caught” a sunburn, it is really counterproductive to use body lotion! But what can an after sun product do better that your body lotion can’t?
What can an after sun product do?
An after sun lotion primarily ensures that the skin is cooled and supplied with moisture. In addition, it often contains other ingredients that are supposed to soothe the skin and help it heal. An example of such an ingredient is aloe vera.
If you keep the after sun lotion in the refrigerator, you not only extend its shelf life, you are also doing your skin additional benefits : the cooling effect is greater and this is particularly important when treating sunburn!
If you don’t have an after sun product and are sunburned, then you should definitely not use body lotion , but try the following alternatives:
Cottage cheese or yogurt
The skin burned by the sun needs to be cooled quickly and continuously. You can do this, for example, by applying razor-thick yogurt or quark to the affected area of the skin.
The evaporative cooling provides relief and cools the burned skin areas. However, do not use ice for cooling, as this could lead to icy tissue and make your skin worse!
Aloe vera
Aloe vera not only moisturizes the skin, its active ingredients also ensure that skin irritations and small injuries can heal better. Both properties make aloe vera an ideal helper for sunburn.
You either have an aloe plant in the garden or on the windowsill, or pure aloe gel in the first aid cabinet. If you have fresh leaves, cut the inner, gel-like core into thin slices that you place on the sunburned skin areas.
Alternatively, apply pure aloe gel and renew the layer again and again so that the evaporative cold can have a cooling effect.
Wet linen towels
If you don’t have an after sun product, aloe vera, yoghurt or quark, you can also use plain linen or smooth cotton cloths to cool the skin down when you’re sunburned. You can use tea towels or pillowcases for this.
In an emergency, a T-shirt will do. It is important that the fabric only comes to lie thinly and in one layer on the skin in order to avoid heat build-up, which can also occur with body lotion.
Dip the towels in cold water and wring them out so that they are damp but not wet on the skin. Moisten again and again in order to maintain the effect of the evaporation cooling!
water
It also helps to take advantage of the evaporation coolness of the pure water. There are of course expensive sprays with thermal water that you can use for this, but ice-cold water from a clean flower sprayer does too!
Water not only helps on the skin, but also in the stomach. The sunburn has caused a loss of water not only in your skin, but also in the surrounding tissue, which must be replenished.
If you drink a lot, you will also accelerate the healing process by ensuring that breakdown products can be removed from your body better and faster.
Help from the pharmacy
If you can send someone to a pharmacy, get an ointment or gel against burns there, because sunburn is basically nothing more than a burn, which can even be accompanied by blistering!
In addition, it makes sense to take an anti-inflammatory drug such as acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) or ibuprofen to reduce your body’s inflammatory response to skin burns.
Bottom line: Sunburn body lotion is pretty much the worst idea you can think of. There are many alternatives with which you can treat sunburn much more sensibly and effectively.
