Dealing with Sun Damage

All that pain and redness is a sign that skin has been severely damaged, but even without a major burn, your skin can be affected. Fortunately, there is help for sun damaged skin.

Vitamin A is one of the best things you can do for your skin. This is available in small capsules which can be opened and the oil spread on the affected areas. Vitamin A penetrates the skin to help repair the cells below the most damaged layers. No Vitamin A on hand? Try tomatoes, instead.

Another good natural remedy for sun damaged areas is aloe vera. This plant has been used for generations to prevent serious damage after sunburns and has some great healing properties. You can find this in gel form at the pharmacy, or just get a plant of your own. In order to use it, you just open the fleshy leaf and spread the gel from the inside on the affected body parts.

Oatmeal water, most commonly known as a treatment for itchy skin, can also be helpful in cases where you've spent too much time in the sun. Place a handful of oatmeal in a cloth bag and run under the tap while filling a bathtub. Then soak in the tub. You can also apply the liquid with a cloth.

By your mid-thirties, your dermatologist will have probably already told you that you have sun damage in one form or another. Keep wearing your sunblock every day, of course, but it's never too early to start treating wrinkles and dark spots (these were once called liver spots, but it's now known that they're just little pieces of sun damage having nothing to do with the liver). Your dermatologist might recommend laser treatments if your spots (or wrinkles) are severe enough, but some over the counter products (like Clinique's Clinical Dark Spot Corrector) get great reviews for their results with this problem.