New Sunburn Remedy on the Horizon

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Sunburn creeps up on you

Sunburn can creep up on you whether it’s hot or not. In the cool coastal weather we can get fooled when out in the sun, or even under a cloud layer. We feel cool, but later the sunburn appears. But hot sunny weather can do the same thing. We’re having so much fun in the sun that we forget our skin is getting too much exposure to those burning rays.

Avoid Sunburns

By all means avoid getting sunburned but if you do, there’s new research on a remedy that can clear that sunburn quickly, something you may already have in stock in your house.

News of a new remedy to help resolve sunburn faster

The skin redness, swelling, and inflammation of sunburn were quickly diminished by taking high doses of vitamin D one hour after sun exposure. The research scientists at  Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center gave 20 participants in the clinical trial either a placebo (inactive)pill or 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 IU of vitamin D one hour after a UV lamp burned a small patch of skin on their inner arm. 

At one, two, three days and 1 week they collected biopsies of the burned skin. The higher the dose of vitamin D taken, the greater the resolution of the inflammation of the skin including less redness in 48 hours and increased activation of skin barrier repair.

“We found benefits from vitamin D were dose-dependent,” said Kurt Lu, MD, senior author on the study and Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. “We hypothesize that vitamin D helps promote protective barriers in the skin by rapidly reducing inflammation. What we did not expect was that at a certain dose, vitamin D not only was capable of suppressing inflammation, it was also activating skin repair genes.”

Doctors have been attentive in the last several years to the benefits of having optimal blood levels of vitamin D. But they did not know if taking vitamin D after a damaging exposure would help fight the inflammation. This study confirms that taking vitamin D after the damage has occurred can aid in resolving the acute inflammation in sunburned skin.

But beware

Dr. Kurt Lu, MD Warns

 “I would not recommend at this moment that people start taking vitamin D after sunburn based on this study alone. But, the results are promising and worthy of further study.” Lu and colleagues are planning additional to develop treatment plans for burned patients.

Fortify your skin to help prevent sunburn

Astaxanthin – Sunscreen in a Pill to help prevent sunburn

 Take “sunscreen in a pill.” Scientists say that astaxanthin, a pink to red carotenoid, found only in microalgae is one of the most potent anti-oxidants found in nature. When the microalgae’s water supply dries up, this pigment protects them from the ultraviolet radiation of the sun.

The pink coloring of salmon and flamingo comes from eating these microalgae. Farm raised salmon are pale colored because they are fed corn and have no microalgae to eat. Artificial coloring has to be added in the raising and processing of farmed salmon to make them look like real salmon.

You would have to eat a lot of wild salmon to obtain enough astaxanthin to protect you from sunburn. So taking a supplement of astaxanthin does the job better, acting as an internal sunscreen to protect our skin from sun damage. It also helps delay the development of wrinkles and protects other organs from free radical damage, keeping them soft and pliable.

More info: Preventing Sunburn Naturally  

You know the other precautions about avoiding sunburn

• Protect your skin with clothing and a hat.
• Use sunscreen products – but a word of precaution
• Apply sunscreen after you’ve been in the sun for 15-20 minutes so the sun rays can stimulate the production of vitamin D in your skin.
• Sunscreen products contain a host of chemicals that can be absorbed into our bodies and cause damage. So check out the Environmental Working Groups info and guidance on sunscreens:
• http://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/
• Download a PDF version of EWG’s Guide to Safer Sunscreens here:

Enjoy your fun in the sun, but be wise, avoid sunburn.

References:
1 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-07/cwru-vd070617.php
2 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X17315580
3 http://www.acsh.org/news/2017/06/28/cant-avoid-sunburn-vitamin-d-might-help-11489