I love summer but I never fail to get a good sunburn, no matter how many precautions I take. Even with sunscreen on I usually find that I end up getting a nasty burn. I usually lose track of time when I am outside so it is no surprise to me that I end up with peeling skin later on.

I have found that peeling skin is best taken care of with a light massage oil after a nice bath. For some reason the massage oil seems to refresh the skin and the rubbing motion actually removes any dead skin that is hanging on post bath.

For myself I use an oil that is a mix of sea buckthorn and coconut ointment. The oil has healing properties and can even help prevent sun blisters.

A really good for skin that peels after getting a sunburn is to use a natural sea sponge on your skin with a gentle body wash that is moisturizing.

Straight soap is a bad idea because it can irritate your skin instead of helping it feel better.

If you don't have any body wash, avoid that soap and just use an oil on your body after you've had your bath.

Another good idea for your cool bath is to put a bit of baking soda and apple cider vinegar into the water. This combination will provide your skin with a bit of healing help and I find a bit of baking soda on your body sponge makes a good exfoliant that is free of harsh chemicals.

The part of sunburn that was surprising to me was that you also swell! So in addition to the aloe or other method you use to relieve the burn I would also suggest ice or a cold compress at the swelling portion of your burn.

The last sunburn I had was on my legs and the end of the week of utter sunburn misery was topped off with cankles secondary to the swollen-ness (cankles are where your ankles are as big as your calf)!

The first time you get "the" sunburn, you never forget it. Mine was when I was 16 years old. We went boating for the day and of course, you don't feel like you're getting sunburned with the wonderful breeze is blowing through your hair.

Well, after three hours, I realized the damage I had done. I was so blistered that I could not stand for anything to touch me. I missed a whole week of school because I couldn't wear clothes. I had sun poisoning and when the skin started peeling, it also started bleeding.

When I went to the doctor, he told my mom to keep the burns open during the daytime and keep antibiotic ointment on it. But, unfortunately, there is no sure-fire sunburn cures out there.

I learned a valuable lesson that day and have had much respect for the sun ever since. Just because you don't feel the heat doesn't mean you aren't getting dangerously sunburned.

@LisaLou - I have also used vinegar for sunburns and have had good results. I will pour some in a spray bottle and spray anywhere I have skin that has burned. This is the easiest way I have found to use the vinegar.

Not only does it help relieve the pain, but it also works great for sunburn itch relief. As soon as I spray this on my skin it stops itching. As soon as my skin feels itchy again, I just spray more vinegar on it.

You may have to do this several times, but it really does help, and is also very economical.

I usually try to prevent a sunburn from even happening, but there have been a few times when I was out in the sun longer than I anticipated, and got a sunburn.

One of the best sunburn home remedies I have tried is to use vinegar. Just a bottle of plain vinegar - it doesn't matter if it is white or apple cider vinegar.

When I get a sunburn I will pour some of this anywhere my skin is red and burned. After several applications I will still have red skin, but it will not hurt anymore. I think it also helps your skin from blistering. Anytime I have used this remedy, I have not got blisters.

It might not smell the best at first, but it really does help with the pain and tenderness.

I am very familiar with skin that has been sunburned. My sister and I spent most of our summers outside and always had a least one big sunburn each year.

I know it sounds kind of gross, but we loved peeling off the skin from each others backs where you could not reach it yourself. After this first sunburn, we looked forward to a summer tan and were oblivious to the need for sunscreen.

Now that I am older, and hopefully a little wiser, I use sunscreen on a regular basis, but still might get a sunburn occasionally.

The best sunburn remedy that has worked for me is to add some mint extract to the aloe vera gel. There is something about the coolness of the mint, mixed in with the gel that is very soothing to my tender skin.

@shell4life - I have felt the pain of peeling off skin that wasn’t totally ready to go. I used to use tweezers to grip it, and I would rip it off quickly like a bandaid. I figured out that this was not a good method. Areas that were not ready to be exposed stung and appeared juicy.

I developed a new method for removing my dead skin. First, I would get into a tub of warm water and soak. Then, I would take a big bowl of oatmeal and apply it to my skin like a mask. After letting it set for about ten minutes, I would take a washcloth and rub it gently in a circular motion, dabbing it with water. Then, I would rinse off in the shower.

To me, the best sunburn relief by far is aloe vera gel. This green goo comes in a dispenser like lotion, and its cooling properties are invaluable.

Sunburned skin is often hot before it starts to itch. Once you have itching, you know that peeling is soon to follow. So, before I develop an itch, I treat the heat with soothing aloe gel. I slather it all over my red skin after I shower, and I reapply it in the morning.

Usually, if I apply aloe vera gel twice a day for several days, I won’t peel. The redness usually goes away in two or three days. If I don’t use aloe, then I am sure to peel.

I have never had a sunburn so bad that it made blisters, but I have peeled from a sunburn on more than one occasion. You have to be sure that the skin is ready to come off, or it will hurt when you tug at it.

Sometimes, pieces of dead skin that jut up appear ready to be removed. You start to peel them, and they seem to be coming off so easily that you gain confidence and yank the whole piece, only to experience pain at the base of the skin. Part of it was ready, but the area where it attached to your live skin was not.

I like to use a loofah with shower gel to remove the dead skin. That way, I have no harsh exfoliants like beads or grains that could irritate the newly revealed skin.

My dermatologist had warned me that the medication I was on to relieve acne would make me more sensitive to the sun. I thought that as long as I wore sunscreen, I would be okay to spend the day at the lake on a hot June day. I was wrong.

I had been applying a topical treatment to my upper arms to relieve the tiny bumps there. Well, one spot on my arm burned so badly that I developed a mass of tiny scabs. They turned nearly black.

My dermatologist gave me a steroid cream to help the area heal. I did not peel off the scabs. The red skin that eventually emerged was sensitive for some time, but the steroid cream sped up the healing process.

@Penzance356 - I think you're spot on to recommend we avoid applying greasy things to relieve sunburn.

I will say though that my grandmother's solution - basically strong iced black tea dabbed on to non blistering areas - did give me a lot of relief from childhood sunburns.

I shudder to think how much damage I've done to my skin during that period, but we just didn't think about it. Burning was just a hazard of playing outside in the summer.

I've heard of many home remedies for sunburn, including using yogurt, vinegar and butter. personally I'm wary of them, instead I prefer to use aloe to soothe my skin.

If your sunburn blisters I would seek medical advice. I only had this happen once and it became infected. The doctor said if I'd used any oily liquids on this area of skin it would have been much more serious than it was.

Thanks for this useful article. I accidentally fell asleep in the yard yesterday and was desperate for some ideas on how to relieve my sunburn.

My first reaction was to reach for traditional ointments, but I tried the oatmeal suggestion and it is helping a lot.

My family are never going to let me live this down, as it's always me who is nagging about the effects of damaged skin. I have even been known to set a timer to avoid sunburn over tanning.