As people put away scarves and change into spring clothes, skin hidden for months is exposed to the sun's harmful radiation and burned before the warm weather has a chance to settle in.
As a cure, Lane Vines, senior in English, said her mother once made her take a bath in vinegar to take the sting out of a sunburn.
"You stink for days, though," Vines said.
Noxema was a favorite of Vine's family for helping ease the pain of the burn.
"I drink lots of water and use a lot of lotion to help it peel less," said Madeline Goodman, senior in early childhood education. "That's what my step mom has always said to do."
Cameron Cole, an employee at the salon at Ulta in Tiger Town, said to use fragrance free lotion to avoid irritating already sensitive skin.
Vines has also heard not to put petroleum jelly or any jelly-like substance on a sunburn because it holds the heat in that causes the pain.
"I was out of sunscreen, and plus I thought, 'It's spring time, the sun isn't going to be strong enough to burn me,'" Goodman said. "I'm still peeling from that burn."
Goodman, however, said he doesn't use any homemade remedies for sunburns.
"I use a lot of aloe vera and stay inside for a few days," Goodman said. "Time is part of the healing process."
Vines and Goodman both agree that drinking lots of water also helps keep burnt skin moisturized, making it heal cleaner and faster.
"Your body is trying to generate new skin cells," Vines said. "So you need anything that stimulates that."
Chris Dutton, an assistant scuba instructor in Auburn, grew up in Tampa, and said he has extensive experience with sunburn remedies.
"When I first go out in the sun I get sunburned and then after that I just tan the rest of the summer," Dutton said. "Then I'm just working on straight skin cancer."
Dutton also said that the myth about putting tomatoes on a burn to draw out harmful poisons is just untrue.
"There have been studies showing that eating tomatoes can reduce skin that is naturally red," Cole said. "But a burn doesn't mean your skin is poisoned so tomatoes wouldn't help much."
Cole said burning is the skins natural defense to overexposure to the sun.
Cole suggests taking some ibuprofen to help with the inflammation of the burn and easing the pain, as well as taking an oatmeal bath in warm water to soothe the irritated skin.
"Once you've burned your skin there is not a whole lot you can do," Cole said. "But put some aloe on to get the heat out of it."
Sonya Hildreth, the owner of Create A Spa in Auburn, said the best thing for a sunburn is applying aloe straight from the plant leaves directly onto a burn.
"It looks like a little cactus you can get from the garden section of Walmart," Hildreth said. "Break open the plant and rub the aloe on your skin or burn."
Hildreth said pure aloe can also help with scarring, making burns heal faster and cleaner.
While vinegar and tomatoes might seem like a good idea at the time, the best thing to do is buy some aloe, drink lots of water, take ibuprofen and soak in an oatmeal bath to help with the pain and heal the burn.
While it may hurt in the beginning, the burn will automatically heal itself slowly over time.
"The best remedy is to put sunblock on," Dutton said. "Because once it's done, it's done."
Vines said her parents put sunscreen on her and her brother several times a day when they were children.
"They would disguise it as snack time and reapply while we were drinking our Capri Suns," Vines said.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
