Once the skin has become sun-damaged, there isn’t much you can do to heal the area except using self-care methods to relieve symptoms of pain, swelling, and discoloration. These methods include:

- Apply ointment/ gel: Aloe vera or calamine lotion can help soothe sun-damaged skin and reduce redness, swelling, and pain.

- Cool off: A cool bath or cool compresses with clean washcloths applied to the skin several times a day can relieve inflammation and ease pain caused by a sunburn. It is important to use clean towels every time you do a cool compress to avoid infecting the damaged skin with bacteria or other germs that may begin to populate on the cloth.

- Take a pain reliever: Over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) can help reduce symptoms of pain and inflammation caused by a sunburn.

- Use anti-itch and corticosteroid creams: Applying anti-itch and corticosteroid creams to the affected area can relieve skin as it begins to peel and reduce inflammation.

- Bandage blisters: To prevent infection of the skin, apply antibacterial medication to blisters and bandage the area.

- Moisturize: Sunburns severely dehydrate the skin. After a sunburn, and as the skin begins to peel, continue to apply moisturizer to the affected area to prevent excessive drying.