[casispace]

My son has a nasty sunburn that has blistered. How do I help take the pain away? He has a baseball game in 4 hours.

[tickle]

Take the pain away? How about treating the blistered sunburn first; he has 2nd degree burns for heavens sake ! No baseball game in the sun until it is treated properly.

This is an international site. You posted this at l2:24 and I am reading in eastern Ontario at 4:41.

If you are reading this and have not taken him to his baseball game, take him to the hospital.

[hheath541]

Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about the pain in that short amount of time. There are several things that can provide temporary relief, but they're less effective the worse the sunburn is. I've had more blistered sunburns than I can remember, and there's just not a lot that relieves the pain.

As much as possible, keep a cool, wet cloth on the burn. It will help draw some of the heat out of the burn, and moisture keeps the skin from drying out. Apply a burn treatment, like Solarcain or aloe liberally and frequently. It will help relieve the pain, and keep the skin from drying out. Solarcain is a spray that contains a mild numbing agent, and works within seconds. Any treatment will probably need to be reapplied at least once an hour.

Avoid fabrics that will rub the burn, like scratchy fabrics or clothing that doesn't move with the body. If that isn't possible, and the burn area is conducive to it, you might try wrapping the burned area in something like gauze or an ace bandage. Just put gauze pads covered in burn treatment over the burn before wrapping it. Clothing will rub against the wrap, rather than the burn.

Above all else, avoid exposing the burn to more sun. Sunburned skin burns more easily, and even the heat from direct sun can be very painful. Some sunscreens can actually be painful when applied to a severe burn, so it's best to hide the burn under clothing and keep to shade as much as possible.

Do NOT try to pop the blisters. It's painful, and can cause infection and scarring. If they pop on their own, just make sure the area is kept clean. Also, do not apply band aids or medical tape directly to the burn, even if the area seems lighter than the rest, because it is extremely painful to remove, and can take skin with it. If you need to bandage an area, make sure the bandage goes beyond the edges of the burn, and only use nonstick gauze and band aids. Bandages that are not nonstick can adhere to popped blisters and tear skin off when you try to remove them.