My Judgment free sunburn guide

About 2 weeks ago I spent the day at the beach with my family. Just some good old fashion fun. It was cloudy but warm, and I was a little lax on the sunscreen. I ended up with an awful burn. I turned to my online resources for guidance but felt like an idiot. Every site I went to spent at least half a page telling me about the wrinkles and skin cancer I was going to get. I got pretty frustrated and spent the entire next day feeling depressed, like I was going to die. So, this is my judgment free guide to sunburn care.

1. Know that it happens. All of us get sunburn. Consider this to be your warning.
2. Put on Aloe Vera the second you get out of the sun. I wasn’t read until about 4 hours after I left the beach. You never know when the burn is going to come; the Aloe can start soothing before you know you’re burnt.
3. Showers will be uncomfortable. If you can stand it try to take a cool one.
4. Avoid Vaseline and the like products wile you’re skin is red, it retains heat.
5. Wear loose, non-restrictive clothing to avoid pain, for women this defiantly means strapless bras.
6. DRINK WATER-I must have drank 6 full water bottles the day after, it really helps
7. Lay down in a cool room, moving to much is only going to make you sick. You have a good chance of getting heat exhaustion with a burn; it’s a good enough reason to take the day off from work.
8. Brew some black tea, refrigerate it. Drink some of it and soak wash cloths in the rest. Lay the cloths on your burn. There is a powerful antioxidant in the tea that sooths the skin. This works wonders.
9. You will peel. The hardest thing to do is not to touch the peeling skin. I wore tee shirts that covered the area that was peeling, out of sight, out of mind.
10. MOSTURIZE-once you start peeling get in the habit of putting aloe on the area and then cream. This relieves the itch.   

It’s been 2 weeks and I am still peeling. For a basic timeline

0-5 hours: burn appears

5 hours-2 days: burn is painful

3 days-1 week: pain lessens, peeling begins

1week-2+ weeks: peeling and itching

I can’t give you information on blisters because I don’t have any experience but DO NOT TOUCH THEM. I hope this helps, feel free to ask me questions J