8 Tips to Treat a Sunburn

I love the sun and spending time outside. Every time we go to Majestic Resorts, on the first day I want to soak up all the sun I can get while sitting on the beach chairs and spending time in the water. However, I always forget how hot the sun is compared to our summers in Canada. The sun’s rays as so much stronger near the Equator! Within minutes of being outside in the sun without sunscreen, I started to get pink. Before I knew it, if I do that for too long, I get a nice red sunburn that makes me look like a lobster! This was day two. How sad! After anxiously anticipating a two-year trip in the making, now I needed to stay far from the sun to treat a sunburn. Not exactly what I had in mind for our trip.

But, it’s not all bad. There are ways to be in the sun if you are smart about it. These tricks really helped me and I hope they help you as well if you end up looking like a lobster. Here are 8 tips to help you treat a sunburn.

1. Treat a Sunburn With Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is awesome to treat a sunburn! It costs $8.49 at Save On Foods. It’s well worth the cost to buy it at home and bring it with you in your checked bags. We only brought carry-on luggage, so we opted to buy our sunscreen and aloe vera at the resort.

Tip #1: It’s possible to buy it at one of the shops on the resort but keep in mind it’s extremely expensive, as we found out. Outrageously expensive actually. If you travel with carry-on luggage, try to bring bottles of 100 mL waterproof sunscreen and aloe vera.

I know, it’s not the sexiest product but applying it before heading to bed is a good idea. It will help heal your skin overnight and make the burn less intense the following morning.

Tip #2: Make sure to wait for at least ten to fifteen minutes between applying aloe vera and heading to bed. Otherwise, you’ll end up soaking the sheets in aloe vera or sticking to them. It’s highly unpleasant to peel your red skin off of the sheets, trust me.

2. Skin Exposure

Ideally, you want to avoid a sunburn, but if that doesn’t happen sunscreen and aloe vera will be your best friends to get your skin back to normal. It’s important to know the right order for applying different products otherwise your sunburn will get worse. If you need to have your burnt skin exposed to the sun, apply aloe vera then wait ten minutes for it to be absorbed into your skin and sequentially apply sunscreen. That will give you the best chance of preventing your skin from getting even redder.

Tip: If you bring bottles of sunscreen that are 100 mL or less in your carry-on, make sure they are waterproof. I found out the hard way when I applied it and went swimming and found out it wasn’t waterproof. It was part of the reason I burnt so quickly.

3. Treat a Sunburn by Staying Hydrated

Bottles of water are provided throughout the resort. There is no reason you shouldn’t be drinking it. The more water you drink, the higher chance you give your body to heal the sunburn. Remember how your body regularly requires water to function? Well, it needs even more to heal your skin.

Tip #1: If you’re from Canada, bottled water is the only safe option. Tap water has the potential to make you sick.

Tip #2: Balance the alcoholic drinks with water to a 1:1 ratio to help stay hydrated. The more alcohol you have, the higher chance you forget about the sun and spend too much time roasting. Lots of alcohol will increase your chances of getting sunburnt.

4. Stay in the Shade

You might be thinking “when would I put on aloe vera?” When I’m in the pool swimming? No. If I’m in the Bali beds relaxing, I don’t want that goop on me. I feel the struggle but hear me out. Maybe putting it on while you’re in the shade is a perfect time to apply it. Yes, you’ll have to adjust your position for a few minutes while reading a book or having a drink for the aloe vera to absorb but after about ten minutes it’s soaked into your skin. It just needs time to work and heal your sunburn. If you’re relaxing, it’s the perfect opportunity to lather it on your skin every couple of hours, let it soak in and do the work treating the sunburn while you enjoy some downtime.

Tip: Many snack bars are also in the shade which allows you to avoid the sun and refuel your body. They are generally air-conditioned, depending on where you go. There’s a likeliness that you’ll find their locations to be quite a temperature shock.

5. Treat a Sunburn With Cool Water

Once the aloe vera is fully absorbed and you’re feeling like you’d like to go for a swim in the cool pools, go have some fun! The coolness can feel refreshing on your burns. Once you get out and towel yourself off or let the air dry you off, apply aloe vera again and let it keep doing its magic by treating the sunburn while you relax. The more times you apply the product, the faster the sunburn will heal. After a couple of days, you’ll be able to go back to the full sun and enjoy the fun activities you had initially planned.

Tip #1: Self-care is important. Treat a sunburn early to prevent more redness and pain if staying in the sun.

Tip #2: Bali beds by the pool are better to treat a sunburn than by the ocean because a pool dip will be cooler. The water from the ocean might be a bit warm and cause discomfort on your skin. Also, the ocean beach has no shade. The sunburn would get exposed to the sun.

Tip #3: Don’t take hot showers; it will be painful. Take them in cool water. Your body will appreciate it.

6. Avoid Abrasive Clothing

Don’t wear abrasive clothing after getting a sunburn. The fabric will rub on your skin and potentially inflict pain causing a higher potential for the skin to peel. A cotton t-shirt might not hurt as much as a casual shirt but if you’re sore, you might be in a lot of pain getting that cotton t-shirt on your body. Getting your partner or family member to help might be helpful.

Tip #1: Ladies, don’t wear items with straps. Especially after getting a sunburn, if you wear a tank top with straps that go across your current burn, they will rub and cause pain. Either stick to shirts that have the same strap pattern as when you got the sunburn or put on a shawl that isn’t tight. These suggestions might do the trick.

Tip #2: Soaking your back, shoulders and other sunburnt areas with aloe vera might moisten the area to allow a shirt to be put on with ease instead of having your body feel like leather.

7. Avoid Direct Sunlight with the Burn

If you forget to bring a shawl as I did, it’s possible to go to the different stores on the resort and try them on. See which one suits you best; they have a variety of styles for different prices. It could be expensive but worth it to cover the sunburn by keeping your skin hidden from the sun and still be able to walk around the resort. It’s a fantastic way to treat a sunburn. The shawl isn’t too tight and allows air to flow with ease. It has a large opening at the neck and arms to prevent it from rubbing on sore burnt spots.

8. Avoid Sun Activities

Avoid doing activities in the sun for a couple of days. Once the skin is healed then you can go back to doing those fun outdoor activities you’ve wanted to do since you arrived at your destination. Hang out in the shade under the Bali beds or in the cool water in the pools. Go back and forth from the beds to the water to get a mix of both. We’ve had many wonderful conversations in the pools and met some fun people. It’s a great opportunity to mix and mingle while also taking care of your physical health.

Final Thoughts

Be responsible and treat a sunburn early. It will increase your fun for the rest of the trip. If the burn gets worse, you’ll likely be in increasingly more pain and not be able to enjoy the activities at the resort. Consequently, you’ll be discouraged that you weren’t able to benefit from your trip. If you want to make the best of your adventure, take precautions to avoid getting sunburnt. If you do get burnt, put an action plan in place to get healed quickly to return to a fun week at the resort.