Sunburn Remedies: Final Day 7

DAY 7: REBIRTH
I've tolerated all kinds of pain in my life, but nothing prepared me for the day my stomach would start molting to a new layer of skin. I'm finally back to wearing pants and a normal seat belt, but my stomach is ready for new challenges as it brings a fresh layer to life.

Image from GIFER.

PAIN LEVEL (1-5 SCALE):
1. I wish I could say no pain, but peeling skin always causes some sort of discomfort.

REMEDY:
I had to start flaking this stuff off! I changed into a bathing suit for the first time in a week and saw a white layer of skin slowly separating. What did I do? Naturally, I let it flake off like crazy!

Sunburn Remedies: Day 4

Day 4: I FEEL HUMAN AGAIN

via GIPHY- Damon slips into his old vamp ways in The Vampire Diaries.

Today is the first day my stomach is not looking like the inside of an under-cooked chicken! I'm less pink and there is some sort of brown edging forming, almost like a bad tanning lotion application.

PAIN LEVEL: (1-5 Scale)
Still hanging at a 2 today. More than anything, I feel a little dehydrated. I've been drinking tons of tea and water all week.

Remedy:
Aside from a daily application of aloe, I'm letting this day go by without any new pain relieving methods. My new method, aside from hydration, is to do nothing. I even managed to wear a skirt that loosely came near my stomach today!

Sunburn Remedies: Day 3

DAY 3: I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

Today, I woke up as a functioning sunburn victim! After two nights of pain, I was forgetting what normal looked like. To follow up on yesterday's methods of treatment, the oatmeal bath was  a disaster. The oatmeal was nice and calming, but I added what was left in the can, which was over a half a cup, and my tub was still draining oatmeal this morning.

Howie D in as a vampire in The Backstreet Boys'
"Backstreet's Back" video, from GIPHY.

PAIN LEVEL: (1-5 Scale)
A very normal 2.
I wore a loose-fitting cotton skirt today to keep my skin happy. I went to yoga class at night and was only in pain when I stretched my core and bent into cobra/upward dog, which require your stomach to be on the mat.

Remedy 1: Ice
In any pain relief treatment, the second thing to try (in the RICE) method) is rest. After being a bit restless in bed, I got a cold ice pack from the freezer and threw it on my stomach. I was instantly comforted into sleep.

Remedy 2: Tea Bags
I'm about to make some green tea, and the cooled tea bags will be gently placed on my red skin for anti-oxidants. I'll update on this tomorrow.

Sunburn Remedies: Day 2

Day 2: BURN BABY, BURN
Yesterday's sunburn has taken full control of my delicate stomach epidermis. Tonight, it's time to test some new remedies. Welcome to my first work day with a terrible stomach sunburn! Remember, just because I'm not sparkling like a vampire in the light on the outside doesn't mean I don't feel it on the inside. I generally feel like I have a new layer of aloe-smothered skin.

Edward in the Light- TWILIGHT - Tenor GIF

PAIN LEVEL: (1-5 Scale)
A solid 4. 
Wearing a dress helped keep anything from touching my skin, but I'm taking breaks to apply extra aloe to my red spot. Laying on my stomach at the chiropractor's office was a few steps above torture by soccer stadium vuvuzelas.

 Remedy 1: Keep all fabric off the burn

Today, I wore a loose fitting dress to work to keep my stomach as far from exposure as possible. I'm sure it fixed anything, but I felt a little more comfortable.

Remedy 2: Cool Bath with Oatmeal

I first took an oatmeal bath when I had the chicken pox. It's still  great option for any type of skin irritation. This is relaxing so regardless I'm having fun!

Sunburn Remedies: Day 1

Today, I went on a trip to the beach. It was great, except for a pesky sunburn on my stomach. I'll spare the photographic evidence and the story of my pink stomach, but just image sitting through a concert with a searing pain in your abdomen. I can't go back in time and re apply on my midriff, but I 'm sharing my diary of this week's sunburn remedies.

DAY 1: FEELING THE (SUN)BURN 
About four hours after the beach, the pain set in. What I first attributed to an irritation too-tight pants was eventually revealed to be sunburn.

ANGEL enjoying an alt. dimension where he can't 
be burned by the sun. Image from Mythcreants blog. 

PAIN LEVEL: (1-5 Scale)
This is a 5-alarm issue.
When the pain from a sunburn is so bad and you have to change your clothes, it's as severe as it can get. I even had to cushion my the lap part of my seat belt for the drive home.

Remedy 1: Drinking Water

-Sunburn usually makes me overly warm and sweaty (thanks to inflammation). I took a fresh bottle of ice cold H20 to help replenish foods in my body during the concert. This definitely prevented me from further hydration, so I consider it a win. 

Remedy 2: Loose Fitting Clothing

Once I ruled out stomach pain, I decided I had to get my stomach free of any restrictive fabric. This meant buying an oversized concert t-shirt so my pants could be open across my stomach. This helped a lot!

Remedy 3: Aloe

I grabbed some chilled aloe out of my fridge at home and slathered it on my stomach for an instant cooling sensation. The relief is temporary, but always appreciated. 

Remedy 4: Advil

Since sunburn is an inflammatory body response, I took an anti-inflammatory before bed. I think this helped take a little of the heat off my sensitive stomach because I fell asleep (on my back) almost instantly.

Remedy 5: Modify My Seat Belt
This pain is so intense, I had to use my shoulder strap for my seat belt and wrap it around my lap to keep the belt off of my stomach!