BY DR. ANDREA PURCELL
It’s summer time! There are days when we spend a little too much time in the sun and those ultraviolet rays get us even through the clouds. It’s a good idea to have some skin soothers on hand to nourish sun burned skin.
If you need help choosing a natural sunscreen please check out my blog post on sunscreens HERE.
As with everything in life moderation is key. A little bit of sunshine is good for us and too much can be painful.
My favorite natural tools in treating sunburn involve 4 topical remedies and 3 homeopathic remedies.
In choosing a topical remedy you can select from one of the following. It isn’t necessary to combine them although lavender oil can be applied and an aloe leaf placed on top. The same goes for lavender oil and calendula cream. You can use whichever you have on hand.
1) Calendula Cream – made from an infusion of calendula flowers, it is well known for healing scrapes, repairing burned skin, and promoting healing.
2) Aloe Vera – the fresh gel from the plant or in a bottle from the health food store. Cooling & soothing to burned skin.
3) Liquid Minerals from Trace Minerals research – Apply the liquid minerals to your palm rub your palms together and rub repeatedly and deeply into the burned area. The trace minerals have a way of balancing and re-hydrating the areas of damaged skin. This can initially generate more heat and feel sharp and tingly on the skin.
4) Lavender essential oil – combine 10 drops lavender oil with 3 teaspoons coconut oil or another body oil and rub onto burned areas.
The top three homeopathic remedies for burned skin are:
1) Calendula 30c – Soothing the burn and helping heal the damaged skin.
2) Cantharis 30c –Itching, burned skin, with small vesicles, scalding pain, & restlessness.
3) Apis 30c – Swollen skin, worse with hot applications, better with cold.
Dosing: 2 pellets dissolved on tongue every 2 hours over 36 hrs. or until burn subsides or patient falls asleep.
I’ve had my share of sunburns and I have relied on these therapies multiple times. They work to soothe, comfort and heal the skin faster than it would on its own. The first time I traveled to Ecuador, I was deceived by the notion that I could sit under an umbrella all day with SPF 15 and practice safe sun. Well by the time I had returned to my lodging that night I was as red as a lobster! Initially I couldn’t understand what had happened since I was technically in the shade all day but then it hit me, the Ultraviolet rays had passed right through the umbrella and had been cooking me slowly for hours. After all I was on the Equator. I promptly got out my first aid bag of natural remedies and selected Cantharis, and Apis. I twisted two pellets of each out of the caps and dissolved them on my tongue, which I did every two hours until night fall. I slathered trace minerals all over the burned areas and rubbed them in deeply. Then I dressed in loose clothing and went to dinner. The next day I was still burned, less red and my skin was tight but no blisters. I continued my dosing of the remedies and the minerals for an additional 24 hours. By the third day the burn had turned into a deep tan, and I was without discomfort. Two weeks after I returned home the top layer of my skin peeled and that was it! I attribute the remedies in my kit to saving me from 2nd degree burns & blistered skin.
Wishing You Well,
Dr. Purcell
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