|
Cool, soothing aloe gel for burns
Most minor burns will heal on their own, and home treatment is usually all that is needed to relieve your symptoms and promote healing. The simplest and quickest thing to do is to keep the burned area in cold water or apply an ice pack for at least ten minutes, even if the pain subsides. Never put butter or vegetable oils on a burn, this just keeps the heat in. Herbal oils can help prevent scarring and help moisturinze as the skin begins to heal, but don't use them as an emergency measure.
To make a compress for burns: Wet a clean clothe in cool water, and/or Witch Hazel, then apply a few drops of chamomile, hyssop or lavender essential oil directly to the burn. Witch hazel is an all purpose remedy for scalds, burns, sunburns and other inflammatory conditions of the skin. Used externally, hyssop, chamomile and lavender essential oils have been proven to be good for treating burns and sunburns.
Fresh aloe gel soothes pain, cools the skin, and stimulates blood flow to burns, sunburns, red painful skin, and blisters. It also encourages healing to occur between tissue cells. 1. Aloe is a great house plant to keep handy in a kitchen window.
Herbal poultices are another good home remedy for burns. Chickweed poultices are useful for cooling and soothing minor burns. Apply fresh mashed and moistened chickweed leaves to the burned area.
Plantain's juice is in fact antibacterial and quite soothing when applied to a burn.1 Like comfrey, it contains allantoin, an anti-inflammatory phytochemical that speeds wound healing, stimulates the grow of new skin cells, and give the immune system a lift. Slippery elm poultices are also used for treating inflamed, or irritated skin and minor burns.
Sunlight, sunscreens, and preventing sunburns
One of the most confusing products on the market has to be sunscreens, the widely
variety of claims, SPF numbers and how much to use and how often has the most
consciences mothers baffled about what to use. Many experts consider an SPF
over 50 a meaningless marketing gimmick. One of the biggest risks in using sunscreen
is the false sense of security it gives people. You must apply loads of sunscreen,
and often to reap the protective benefits.
What to look for
Para-amino benzoic acid PABA is widely used as a topical sunscreen, since it
has the ability to absorb ultraviolet rays from the sun. PABA can be found in
food sources such as liver, eggs (whole), molasses, rice, what germ and spinach.
PABA is often referred to as Vitamin Bx (part of the Vitamin B complex family),
but it is neither an actual vitamin nor is it an essential nutrient for humans.
Mineral based sunscreens
Minerals zinc or titanium based products offer a wider spectrum of protection,
and do not break down quickly like products based on the chemical avobenzone.
The preference consumers have for chemical based sunscreens is more a function
of esthetics and marketing than a judgment on how well they work. Nanoparticles
are now being used to improve the texture and mitigate the heavy, white pasty
look of zinc and titanium. If a mineral-based product is clear, it contains nanoparticles.
The jury is still out on whether nanoparticles can harm healthy skin, but it
may be wise to avoid them until more is known.
Ingredients to be wary of
The industry swears the chemicals in sunscreens are safe, but frankly I would
rather be safe than sorry.
Oxybenzone has been shown to have hormone-disrupting properties
in lab tests, and while they have not yet been proven harmful in humans, they
haven't been proven safe either.
A Vitamin A derivative called retinyl palmitate chemical could accelerate skin
damage and increase skin cancer risk when applied to skin that's exposed to sunlight.
Retinyl is the ester of retinol (vitamin A) and it is found in many cosmetics,
most likely as a "wrinkle preventer". |
Home Remedies for Burns/SunBurn 
Bruises/Sprains :
