Sunburn: First aid

Signs and symptoms of sunburn usually appear within a few hours of exposure, bringing pain, redness, swelling and occasional blistering. Because exposure often affects a large area of your skin, sunburn can cause headache, fever and fatigue.

If you have a sunburn:

• Take a cool bath or shower.
• Apply an aloe vera lotion several times a day.
• Leave blisters intact to speed healing and avoid infection.
• If needed, take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Aleve) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Don't give children or teenagers aspirin. It may cause Reye's syndrome, a rare, but potentially fatal, disease.

If your sunburn begins to blister or if you experience immediate complications, such as rash, itching or fever, see your doctor.