I went tanning went tanning sat. afternoon it's now tuesday early morning and im just as red as I was Sat.

Question

I went tanning for too long! I'm still really red I hurt all sat night sunday and monday, now im still sore but really painful itching almost like needles. PLease tell me what I can do to help it. I'm terribley uncomfortable!

Answer 1

You can't expect your body to show the same signs of over exposure to the sun, when you have over exposed yourself to fake sunlight, (and a highly dangerous light at that).

Aloe Vera has been proven to aid in healing the skin. Look for lotions with very high levels of Aloe Vera. Don't get the dime store version. Try a health food store where there are better standards for quality.

Avoid Solarcaine and other topical products with alcohol in them. Alcohol will only dry out your skin more by removing your bodies natural oils. Avoid using a lot of soap, as detergent will also remove your bodies natural oils. Your skin is damaged and will repair itself by shedding the top layer and building new. You will need to eat healthy for a couple weeks too.

Now for a little story. Something that makes little sense to me.
I knew this gal who loved those fake sun tanning machines so much, that she went out and bought her own. She used it religiously, and by age 30, had wrinkles like a 50 y.0..
Be here is the odd part. She did not stop using the tanning bed.
She would continue to expose herself to this type of radiation, but then apply make up so thick on her face and arms, that you really were seeing the makeup, and not her skin. The more her skin would wrinkle, the more make up she would need to cover the wrinkles, and thus, cover her tan.

Why do I bring this up? Because often when people pursue a particular look, they can seem to be so caught up in that pursuit as to ignore other, more healthy, lines of thought.

Answer 2

Sometimes applying solarcaine helps, it has a mild anesthetic to ease the pain.

I used to slather myself with very cold plain yoghurt. Messy, yeah but it helped some. You take a bath with lukewarm water to take it off.

Another one is to wrap some ice cubes in a washrag, dip it into vinegar and apply to the burnt area, that draws the heat out, or so some say. I tried it and it works. I would take it easy and use a top that will protect my neck, shoulders and back at least during the next couple of days.

Keep your skin well protected with cream, I use nivea, the really thick kind. My kids and I usually apply sunblock, no tanning oil at all and after a bath we slather Nivea skin cream all over. We´ve never had a problem. It might also be that your skin is overly sensitive to the sun as well.


Home treatment measures may provide some relief from a mild sunburn.

Use cool cloths on sunburned areas.
Take frequent cool showers or baths.
Apply soothing lotions with aloe vera to sunburned areas. Topical steroids (such as 1% hydrocortisone cream) may also help with sunburn pain and swelling.
A sunburn can cause a mild fever and a headache. Lie down in a cool, quiet room to relieve the headache. A headache may be caused by dehydration, so drinking fluids may help. For more information, see the topic Dehydration.

There is little you can do to stop skin from peeling after a sunburn—it is part of the healing process. Lotion may help relieve the itching.

Other home treatment measures, such as chamomile, may help relieve your sunburn symptoms.