The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Clay
Posted by MTCO (Brisbane, Australia) on 05/21/2023
★★★★★
Clay will take out the burn and you will not have any redness left over. just hard to keep it moist if it large areas. I have treated numerous burns with Sod Bent Clay with real success. Cover it with food plastic to keep it moist for several hours. redo if necessary. overnight in some cases. cheap and cheerful cure!
Cocoa Butter
Posted by Saul (Corpus Christi, Texas) on 09/10/2007
★★★★★
I can remember a couple of years ago,my car broke down 3 miles from my house and my daughter was with me. So I grabbed the stroller and took off my over shirt to cover the front of the stroller to protect her from the sun. So by he time I reached home in the blazing sun was body was burnt. As I took my daughter out of the stroller to hold her, I saw how badly burnt I was. So I ran to the bathroom and searched for anything that might help. But there was only Cocoa butter. I had nothing to lose, put it on and by the end of the night, my sunburn was almost gone,and the best part was, my skin didn't peel or get itchy. (use immediately when aware of sunburn).
Coconut Oil
Posted by Reader (South Carolina) on 11/26/2022
★★★★★
Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) for sunburns
Growing up, each time I got a sunburn, my mom would urge me to put aloe on it. As I recall, that helped a little. So did yogurt. But recently, I got a pretty bad sunburn on both arms. I happened to have aloe (in a tube) and coconut oil. Read on EC that coconut oil was good for burns, so I turned it into a science experiment.
On one arm, I rubbed aloe, on the other, virgin coconut oil. 15 minutes later, the results were clear. The coconut oil arm had ZERO pain, and the aloe are was still stinging. I put coconut oil on the aloe arm, and in a few minutes, it was pain free. I'm 100% convinced of VCO's efficacy. I use it for all sorts of skin issues, including scrapes and dry skin. It's out of this world!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Laura (Bryan, Tx, Usa) on 09/09/2012
★★★★★
I got a pretty bad sunburn today, and before I even got home it started hurting so I knew the first thing I was going to do when I got home was check this site for some relief. I have both ACV and extra virgin coconut oil, but decided to go with the oil so I wouldn't be so stinky. As soon as I applied the oil to my sunburn I got instant relief!! :) Thank you Earthclinic.
Coconut Oil
Posted by At Eastcoast (D.c.) on 06/14/2011
★★★★★
Yes!!! Organic Coconut oil out the jar, when slathered on a fresh burn or sunburn, seems to alleviate the pain quickly and actually cut down healing time a lot!!!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Dollface21338 (Harford, Ny, Usa) on 07/06/2010
★★★★★
Yay for Coconut Oil! I am fairly fair skinned with a moderate amount of freckles that really come out in the sun, auburn hair, and blue eyes. I usually use a smaller amount of SPF (8 in a tanning oil) and may get a little pink but am tan the next day. And I tend to get quite dark if I build it up. Well I decided to lay out on a float in the pool yesterday and exposed my bum to get rid of the tan lines. I didn't realize until later when I sat down how much damage had been done. After rubbing what seemed like an entire aloe plant on the area, I was still in so much pain. Then I remembered EarthClinic.com and knew that I had coconut oil. IMMEDIATE relief, literally! I can actually sit down and type this. I also have ACV but decided to stick with coconut oil. It just seems so much more soothing than the vinegar. Although I will probably try that the next time, just to see if there is a difference. I'd rather smell like a coconut than a pickle! lol
Coconut Oil
Posted by Pinkpanther (Houston, Tx) on 06/11/2009
★★★★★
coconut oil. my children love the smell. It relieves itch and pain. Gently rub in as soon as you find you have a sunburn. The healing process is faster than anything else i have used. -it is an oil so it will be greasy but when you rub it in you can see the skin absorb just what it needs. Spread extra that sits on top of skin to any other area like lotion. *Even if it is not a sunburned area.It is good to eat. Healing inside and out!
Coconut Oil
Posted by London (Sandusky, Ohio) on 04/28/2009
★★★★★
Yes, Coconut Oil is really great for sunburns!! I had a big Jar of Extra Virgin Coconut oil sitting in my medicine cabinet. The other day, My 3 year old got a severe sunburn on her shoulders, face, and arms. For two days, I have been applying the Coconut oil on her skin, nightly, after her bath, and it's great!! It works. especially yesterday, my Mother and I noticed within a half hour after giving her the rubdown, the redness went away significantly, it was amazing!!
Coconut Oil
Posted by Stephanie (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) on 04/17/2008
★★★★★
I started using Virgin Coconut Oil and I love it. I usually sunburn the first time I lay out in the sun, then peel, then I tan afterwards. I usually lay out without sunscreen or tanning lotion. So, I decided to put VCO on my body and layed out in the sun for four hours. I burnt a little, but nothing compared to usual. I also applied VCO twice a day after that and didn't peel at all, but it turned into a great tan. I will use VCO forever. P.S. I also started taking it internally 3X a day-yummy.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Chrissy (Olando, Florida) on 01/11/2008
★★★★★
I use coconut oil anytime that I get a sunburn and it works like a charm to relieve the skin and to help prevent peeling. I also know that when people in my family began to cook with it instead of any other oil they had a drop in cholesterol
DMSO, Coconut Oil
Posted by Susan (Hobart, Tasmania) on 03/05/2010
★★★★★
This is a remedy I found worked for sunburn:
After working up on our roof one day, my boyfriend and I got a bit sunburnt. Naughty, I know.
I keep DMSO in the cupboard for other uses -- boyfriend's inflammatory back pain, my foot pain (plantar fasciitis) as well as other general inflammatory ailments. I had read it was useful for healing heat burns, so I thought I'd try it for sunburn. Everything I've read about DMSO warns to make sure the skin is completely clean of chemical residues. I guess the only way to be sure is to very thoroughly exfoliate the area, so I did this in the shower with a "skin-peel" cloth (no soaps or other chemicals, it's purely mechanical exfoliation). After I'd towelled off I dabbed on some DMSO with a cotton swab. For anyone who's not familiar with the effects of DMSO -- it provides almost instant relief for pain when applied topically. So the burning stopped as soon as I put this on. I let it soak into my skin for about 5 mins, then with another cotton swab rubbed extra-virgin coconut oil into the skin. Well, what a relief! It took the stinging and heat out of my skin straight away. I repeated this several times that night, wearing a clean cotton t-shirt (with no fabric softener in it, just to be sure). It healed really quickly, didn't peel like my boyfriend's sunburn did, and kept my skin looking really good.
It seems like DMSO helps your skin absorb more of what you put on it, so it stands to reason that the EVCO was more able to penetrate my skin and help it "heal". I'm sure the antioxidant properties of the oil were a help to my sun-damaged skin -- as we all know, sun exposure stimulates production of free-radicals, which can cause cancer. I'm not saying this will stop you getting skin-cancer from sunburn, but it did help heal the damage or prevent it from being as bad as it should have. There are also some studies which have suggested a certain level of protection offered by extra virgin coconut oil, that it helps the skin's natural defences where UV light is concerned. Perhaps this is because EVCO is one of the closest substances to human sebum.
Egg Whites
Posted by Cyndi (Martinez, Ca) on 01/01/2023
★★★★★
I used egg whites on a sunburn a few years back. I used a blush brush and brushed it on several times creating a layered effect. The egg white completely took the burn out of the skin and I was no longer in pain. It works great and I'll always use it for every burn from now on.
Egg Whites
Posted by Lecia (Copenhagen, Denmark) on 08/14/2012
★★★★★
Egg whites! I apply raw egg whites to my skin and wait until it dries (which takes only a few minutes), or a little longer. Then I rinse it all off (just water, no products). It takes a few hours to work, but the result is almost a miracle, no burn at all!
It also smoothens the skin, and since I only eat the egg yolks, I have been using the whites on my skin often.
Egg Whites
Posted by Lolita (Cushing, Oklahoma) on 11/04/2009
★★★★★
It is amazing what egg whites can do. My sis-inlaw got on this website after seeing that her niece was developing a bad sunburn and she used paper towels and egg whites and put it on her back where it was the worst. Our niece never complained about the burn or any of the usual discomfort that comes with a burn also as bad as the burn was it should have left scars and you couldn't even tell anything was ever there thanks- Lolita
Egg Whites
Posted by Jennifer (Highland, California) on 06/23/2008
★★★★★
A few day's ago I went to the beach and didn't put on any sunblock. I was there for about seven hours and I got severely burned. I had been putting Aloe Vera on my skin for a few days and it was helping, but then I put raw egg whites on my skin. It felt disgusting but it helped a lot. I just used enough egg white to cover my skin and I slept with it on, so it had a few hours to work.
