Sun Poisoning - swelling

[Jo_Mom]

About 5 days ago I fell asleep on the beach for almost 4 hours. I am very fare skinned and I know this was VERY stupid. But now I need treatment advice. As you can imagine, I got incredibly sunburned. About 5 hours after sun exposure, I started to get light headed and nauseous. I fainted and then could not stand up without throwing up. The next few days I could not stand without severe pain in my legs (extremely sharp pains in my shins). I had major swelling in my legs and chest, and a high fever. I've been doing everything I could find online to help: Cold compresses, cool baths, Advil, applying aloe frequently, hydrating, etc. Now 5 days later, I am not in as much pain, but the swelling hasn't gone down, there is still pain when I stand, and my skin has turned to a splotchy sort of purple color (looks like bursted blood vessels). The expected pain from the sunburn is not worrying me, it's the swelling and the pain in my shins when I stand that concerns me. Is there anything I can do to help the healing process? It is affecting my work.

I understand that this was a horrible mistake and I have beaten myself up about it for days, I don't need tips on prevention (believe me, I won't let it happen again). I just need to know if there is anything I can do.

Thank you so much for your help.

[Michelle1988]

I think it's prescription, but Silvadine cream works really well. My doctor also told me that I could take Ibuprofen 800 mg's 3 or even 4 times a day if I needed it.  

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Apply cool compresses on the area and take bath with cool(not very cold) water. Do not scrub your skin or shave your skin and use a soft towel and gently pat your skin dry. Also use a sunburn Over-The-Counter remedy containing aloe vera and a light moisturizer or a dusting powder to relieve chafing. You can apply silver sulfadiazine (1% cream) on the skin except face and see if it helps. For the pain and swelling you can take an anti-inflammatory analgesic like Ibuprofen or Diclofenac.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[LilHollywood17]

Oh goodness D:
Bless your heart!

I've had a similar thing happen to me, and my friend got it even worst (her poor legs were black and purple and it just looked so awful).
She also had lots of swelling with hers.

When I got my really bad burn (it was across my chest and arms and little white bumps and these boils the size of dimes started to pop up. Obvisouly not as painful or horrible as yours, but still, it hurt! lol), I learned that sitting in a bath of black tea can help. The tannin in it has healing properties.
In cool water, I soaked bags and bags of black tea and just sat there for a while, letting my skin soak it up. I used aloe (directly from the plant), vitamin e (I'd mix it with the aloe).
There's aloe gel with lidocaine, which helps numb the area and bring more relief from the pain (got mine at Wal-Greens for a few bucks and set it in the fridge to let it chill then used it).

Also, milk helps.
My friend (the one with the black and purple burn) told me about it (a girl in one of my classes had a terrible burn to and couldn't even sit or walk and I wanted to try and help her so I asked my friend what she did).
My friend told me to tell her to get some cool milk and soak it in paper towels and then wrap it around the burnt area and then just let it sit there until it starts to become warm, then re-apply (she had hers on her legs, so she just set her legs up on a table).

There are also creams that can be used to help speed up the healing process, though I believe for some of them, you need perscription.

I really hope this helped ya some and I do hope that you start feeling better and that this burn clears up soon!!

Much love,
Erica♥