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my DS got very badly sunburned on Sunday.

It's to the point of blisters on both shoulders... what started as a few blisters has progressed to many blisters.

He can barely move his arms it hurts so much.

We've been giving him Advil for the pain... but I'm hesitant to do much more.

Is there any tried/true methods to relieve sunburn pain?

You can steep some tea bags in very warm water, let them cool and apply the teabags to DS's skin. It sounds like you'll need a lot of them.

But you know, as bad as this sounds, I would take him to the doctor.

I hope he's learned that he has to start looking out for himself--sad lesson to learn but important.

I'd have him take cool water tub baths and submerse as much of his body as he can, add tea bags to the water, and do not use soap, you can also pour in some aloe juice in the water if you'd like. He can soak for however long is comfortable, when he gets out of the tub, have him use a thick lotion with aloe in it to prevent the skin drying out, have him take several of these baths a day until the worst of it is over, when he's sleeping have him use noxema on the burn, and always use aloe juice (not the gel since the gel has alcohol in it)

I keep my aloe juice in the fridge and gently pat it on. I have extremely fair skin and burn at the drop of a hat, I get blisters nearly every time I burn, and have taken to not spending time outside much at all, since I burn so easy.

Take pictures of the burns in case he needs medical attention... I would alternate tylenol and ibuprofen (advil) every 4-6 hours so that he gets some pain relief, if that doesn't work, take him to the dr or urgicare and see if they can give him something slightly stronger to get him through the next week.

Another thing I do when I'm burned that badly, is put a dry towel on the couch, then get a wet towl, (keep it in the fridge when it's not on) to wrap around the burn, the cooling lasts maybe 30 minutes, but it helps take some of the heat out

[This message edited by betrayedfriend at 7:37 PM, June 5th (Wednesday)]

Sad... He keeps saying he's not going to let this happen again... ever.

He took a cool shower today... Poor kid, he even let me help him out. And he doesn't like me to seem him naked anymore.

The cool towel trick sounds good.

Oh, and the cool tea bags is a good idea too... I forgot that one.

[This message edited by jrc1963 at 7:43 PM, June 5th (Wednesday)]

But you know, as bad as this sounds, I would take him to the doctor.

Ditto

I put several tea bags in the bathtub full of cool water and just lie in the tub for a while.

It helps.

I know this will sound nasty as hell,but egg whites will always do the trick. It really sounds nastier then it is,but there wont be no smell,so dont worry. You need to seperate the whites from the yolk. Then apply it on the affected areas,let it dry and the next morning it will be good again. It will reduce pain,it has a cooling effect,relief swelling and blisters and all. Good luck,....

I've never heard of egg whites...

I'll call the dr in the morning.

The aloe with lidocaine in it is a nice numbing agent.

We recommend people put neosporin or aquaphor on burns. Give him Tylenol and Advil for fever and pain. He's got some mild second degree burns.

Thanks Everyone!

I'm practically an albino and have had more sunburns than I can count. Here are some of the things that have helped for my worst sunburns:

-Vinegar. Mix equal parts vinegar and water and either apply with a spray bottle or with a paper towel. I found that the paper towel works better because I can let it sit on the skin longer.

-Milk. Mix milk and water together, soak a towel and apply to skin until the towel is no longer cool, then repeat.

-Aloe is good to cool the area as well.

Use neosporin on the blisters but not on the rest of the burn until the heat it out of the skin, otherwise it acts like cooking oil and makes the burn worse.

Poor kiddo. This happened to me when I was.....19? 20? I applied sunblock when we got to Cedar Point...and then didn't re apply after water rides/sweating. I got toasted. Blisters on both shoulders/back/arms. It was agony.

Aloe vera was the only thing that took my pain away. I even got an Aloe plant and would cut open the leaves and apply directly to the burned areas.

After my blisters popped, I was scarred. As in from my shoulders, across my back and down my arms, scars. I saw a dermatologist, who referred me to a plastic surgeon. Now, the plastic surgeon said he COULD take fat from my butt and inject it into the scars to "flatten" them out, OR we could try this cream. I WISH I could remember what it was called, but it was MIRACLE cream. I'm 37 now, and the only things on my shoulders are freckles as a reminder of the burn. No scars anywhere.

I just wanted to share that with you, just in case your DS has scarring from the burns.

Vinager and water with paper twowel always took the sting out. And pure aleo.

Thanks... he's doing much better today. Went to band camp and everything.

I had bought him new shirts for school... bigger, looser than what was in his drawer... we managed to get one on him and it's not too bad.

Awww, big hugs. My DS got terribly sunburnt Sunday too. Gave him tylenol and used the blue aloe gel with lidocaine and set him in front of the fan. The vinegar paper towels and solarcaine were suggested by friends/family also. He got that sunburnt with brand new 50spf sunscreen from Walmart. My family in Florida told me to switch to bullfrog water armor spray 50spf. I did, and he was out all day yesterday, even with newly exposed skin, and he didn't burn at all. It is expensive though. It was about $20 from amazon for just 4.7oz, but i can't have him burning like he did Sunday, so I sucked it up. I also bought him some dri-star t-shirts he can wear even when swimming now.

I went to walmart and got him three white shirts that aren't designed with sun protection, but will be better than bare skin.

I don't know what the hell his father was thinking letting him be out there for 4+ hours in the middle of the day with nothing on except one application of old sunscreen.

Poor Kid. I find the Aloe gel with the Lidocaine is helpful, and he can apply it as much as he wants. The vinegar thing is good, so is Noxema.

Now that it's not hurting expect him to start itching like crazy in 48 hours as it all starts to slough off. After sun lotion works well, So does the Burt Bees scentless cream, it's thick, I put it on, don't rub it in, just let it soak in.

I hope his band camp is inside, but most likely not, so the big loose shirts are a great idea.

Oh yea, band camp is inside... it's a concert type band thing, not marching band.

He won't do marching band until High School.

A blistering sunburn over that much of his body should be seen by a doctor.

Ibuprofen is the med of choice for pain/inflammation.

I would not apply ANYTHING else without a doctor's instruction. Especially any sort of oil-based ointment.

(I'm not an alarmist. I veer to the opposite, actually. But burns are a big deal.)

[This message edited by solus sto at 9:19 PM, June 6th (Thursday)]