Six Home Remedies to Soothe Sunburn

With summer upon us, it is a wonderful opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of taking sun-smart measures, which include wearing sunscreen and protective clothing and seeking shade during peak hours. But if you find yourself nursing a sunburn, you don’t need to head to the drugstore for relief. Here are six home remedies for sunburn to help soothe your symptoms:

1. Cool It Down

Minimize pain by taking cool baths or putting a cool, wet cloth on the affected area several times a day. Make sure the water is not too cold and avoid extreme temperatures. When sunburned, the skin’s ability to control temperature is compromised, making it easy to for you to get overheated or too cold.

2. Stay Hydrated

Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water per day to replace fluid loss and to prevent dehydration and dizziness. Try to avoid drinks that can dehydrate you even more, like soda, coffee, and alcoholic beverages.

3. Apply Moisturizer Immediately and Frequently

Look for creams and ointments like Lubriderm, Aquaphor, Eucerin, or Vaseline rather than lotions. Apply the moisturizer when the skin is wet (after bathing or soaking with cool compresses) as the moisturizer will serve as a moisture-blocking wall, trapping that water in your skin and helping it heal faster. Some moisturizers, such as Cerave or Cetaphil Restoraderm, contain the good fats called ceramides that form the cement that holds the top layer of the skin, or stratum corneum, together.

4. Reach for Healing Superfoods

Some foods help heal and protect your skin further damage. These are foods rich in antioxidants, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, plums, prunes, artichokes, beans, and pecans. Free radicals are formed from sun exposure and are the root of the problem, damaging the membrane of skin cells, and ultimately causing damage to DNA. The antioxidants and other phytochemicals in these fruits and vegetables can protect the cells by quenching the high energy of these unstable radicals, so there is less chance for damage.

5. Protect — Don’t Pick At! — Blistered Skin

Blisters can serve as a natural bandage for healing raw skin underneath. Let them open on their own. When this happens, apply petroleum jelly two or three times a day to keep the wound moist, and cover it with a bandage. If you’re unsure how severe your blisters are or have concerns about infection, check with your healthcare provider. Signs of infection include increased redness or pain and thick yellow discharge. One blistering sunburn doubles your risk for developing melanoma later in life, so if you have a history of one or more blistering sunburns, make sure to tell your dermatologist and be diligent about having your skin checked each year.

6. Stay Out of the Sun

Sunburned skin is even more susceptible to the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation than skin that has never or rarely been sunburned. Make sure to take extra precautions when going outdoors, including applying sunscreen and wearing sun-protective clothing.

Make Sunglass Safety a Priority This Summer

Sunglass safety is an important part of choosing sun protection for your eyes. If you're overwhelmed by the choices, use these tips to shop wisely and safeguard your vision.

 

Aware of the harm the sun's rays can cause our skin; most of us liberally apply sunscreen for sun protection before heading outside. But what about protecting our vision? It turns out, our eyes are vulnerable to the same harmful effects of ultraviolet, or UV, radiation and susceptible to sunburn and cancer.

The importance of choosing safe sunglasses is often forgotten in the dizzying array of fun and fashion that surrounds sunglasses designs. Designer frames, celebrity trends, and silly fads often influence our purchases, and we forget the importance of sun protection. But it's essential to think of safe sunglasses as sunscreen for your eyes."UV radiation can lead to several dangerous eye conditions," says Jeffrey L. Weaver, OD, MBA, MS, executive director of the American Board of Optometry and adjunct professor at the University of Missouri College of Optometry in St. Louis. "Ultraviolet radiation can cause benign growths on the eye's surface, cataracts, cancer of the eyelids and skin around the eyes, and photokeratitis, or snow blindness, which is painful sunburn of the eye's surface."

The GREAT news is that, armed with the right information, you will be able to look cool and stylish and still protect your vision and overall eye health.  Here are five signs that your sunglasses might not be up to par and tips on how to make sure you are wearing a pair of safe sunglasses with optimal sun protection:

1.       No UVA/UVB labeling. Sunglasses must block 99 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation. This information will be on the label. If it isn't, the sunglasses probably do not block out sufficient UV radiation to protect your eyes and vision. If possible, buy your sunglasses from a store that offers equipment that can verify the UV transmittance (or absorption) of the lenses, to ensure you are buying safe sunglasses.

2.       Mottled tint. To provide optimal sunglasses safety, the tint must be uniform - the lenses shouldn't be darker in one area than another. If you are looking at gradient lenses, the tint should be darkest at the top and lighten gradually toward the bottom. "Gray tint is the best choice to maintain your color perception," Dr. Weaver says. This can be particularly important for recognizing traffic signals.

3.       Lenses that distort your vision. To avoid lenses that distort images, hold the sunglasses in front of you at arm's length. Choose a

straight line in the distance, such as a table edge or door frame, and move the sunglasses slowly along the line. The straight edge you are looking at should not break, sway, curve, or move. If it does, the lenses have imperfections, which can impair your vision.

4.       Not blocking enough visible light. When you look in the mirror while wearing a new pair of sunglasses, you should not be able to see your eyes. If you can, the sunglasses may not be blocking enough visible light. You want your sunglasses to block 75 to 90 percent of visible light, including "blue light" - the blue and violet portion of the solar spectrum. Studies have implicated long-term exposure to blue light as a risk factor for developing macular degeneration. "Basically," Weaver says, "the darker the sunglasses, the more visible light you are blocking."

5.       Flimsy lenses. Lens material should be durable."The preferred material for anyone using sunglasses in active situations - pretty much anything other than sunbathing - is polycarbonate, a tough, lightweight plastic," Weaver says. Polycarbonate lenses are impact resistant, which lessens the chances of the glasses breaking and causing injury to your eyes or your vision.

One last thing: Certain contact lenses absorb UV rays and have proven to be very beneficial in protecting the eyes. However, Weaver cautions that "a pair of safe sunglasses is still necessary to obtain full sun protection for your eyes and to protect your vision and overall eye health."

Enjoy our beautiful sun this holiday weekend!!