Got a bad sunburn? This simple remedy works every time for me.
I’m white. Very white.
I also love the sun and hate sunscreen. Formula for disaster, right?
I’ve never been willing or able to tolerate the greasiness and overall feeling of disgust at the idea of slathering a chemical goo all over myself, especially when I’m already hot and sticky. Gross.
Growing up on a farm, I wore big hats and loose, long-sleeved button-down shirts that I could leave open for air. I had a pretty good system down and I managed to avoid sunburns most days, even when I was working in the fields on the hottest and sunniest of summer days.
These days, when I’m out enjoying the sun at the beach or anywhere else, I try to find shade every so often to make sure I don’t get too badly burned, but once in a while, I still end up looking a bit like a lobster.
So, I end up in the same situation each time. My body is radiating a tremendous amount of heat and my skin is super uncomfortable and I dread the next few days of discomfort at night when I’m trying to sleep and the awful feeling of any clothing touching my red, sensitive skin. Then there’s the inevitable blistering and peeling and all of the terribly not-fun consequences of letting my skin get too much sun.
Or, at least, that’s how I used to deal with my sunburns…
Years ago, I started learning about cold training from a guy named Wim Hof. If you haven’t heard of him, please check out his Wim Hof Method. I love it and swear by it for enhancing overall health and circulation and tolerance to cold weather and more.
The basic idea is that he immerses himself in very very cold water nearly every day and he credits this (along with his breathing exercises) with a host of health benefits.
Well, I started cold training a number of years ago and after I had been doing it for a while I got a sunburn and thought “hmmm, what if I use cold water to help get some of the heat out of my burning skin?”
Makes sense, right? After all, a sunburn is essentially a bunch of trapped heat in our skin cells that damages them, causing redness and pain and eventually the death of a layer of skin that peels off.
So, the next time I got a sunburn, I immediately jumped into the shower, turned the temperature dial to the coldest setting possible and stood so the water cooled my burned skin until it was cold to the touch. It took several minutes, but when I got out of the shower, my skin was still cool to the touch.
I did this a couple times each day for 2 days.
The result? My burn went away much more quickly than usual (turning to a light tan, which is about all I can achieve with my Irish/English heritage) and I had no blistering, no peeling and I slept well each night! Amazing!
Now, a super cold shower for as long as possible is my go-to when I decide to be out in the sun a little too long without the proper clothing or access to shade.
The next time you get a sunburn, try this…
Get into a COLD shower as soon as possible and make sure the cold, cold water is directly on your burned skin for as long as you can stand it. Allow the cold water to suck the trapped heat out of your skin. Repeat this a couple times a day. Just before bed is a great time because it will allow you to sleep better.
It may seem crazy, and some folks have a hard time with cold showers, but I have to say that this is the best remedy I’ve found and it sure beats burning up when you’re trying to sleep and blistering and peeling for days.
Thanks for reading!
Jason.
