From the Guidelines
For peeling skin after a sunburn, it is crucial to prioritize gentle care, hydration, and protection to minimize further damage and promote healing. The most recent guidelines, such as those from the 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross guidelines for first aid 1, emphasize the importance of protecting the wound and reducing pain, which can be applied to the care of peeling skin after a sunburn.
When managing peeling skin, consider the following key points:
- Apply aloe vera gel or moisturizers containing ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, or shea butter several times daily to soothe the skin and promote healing.
- Take cool baths with colloidal oatmeal and pat skin dry rather than rubbing to reduce irritation.
- Drink plenty of water to help rehydrate your skin from within.
- Never forcibly remove peeling skin as this can cause further damage and delay healing; instead, let it shed naturally.
- Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen (200-400mg every 4-6 hours) or acetaminophen (500-1000mg every 4-6 hours) can help with discomfort.
- While recovering, avoid additional sun exposure, harsh soaps, exfoliants, and hot water which can worsen irritation.
It's also important to note that peeling is a natural healing process as the body sheds damaged skin cells, typically occurring 3-7 days after the initial burn. If your skin shows signs of infection, severe blistering, or the peeling is accompanied by fever or severe pain, seek medical attention promptly. Although guidelines like those for systemic mastocytosis 1 provide additional skin care recommendations, the primary focus for peeling skin after a sunburn should be on gentle, hydrating care and protection.
From the Research
Peeling Skin after Sunburn Treatment
Peeling skin is a common symptom that occurs after sunburn, as the skin tries to repair itself. The provided studies do not directly address the issue of peeling skin after sunburn treatment. However, they do discuss the treatment of sunburn and its symptoms.
Treatment of Sunburn
- Topical corticosteroids have been studied as a treatment for sunburn, with mixed results. A study published in 2008 found that treatment with topical moderate-potency or high-potency corticosteroids does not provide a clinically useful decrease in the acute sunburn reaction when applied 6 or 23 hours after UV exposure 2.
- Another study published in 2002 found that topical glucocorticosteroids, such as 0.1% methylprednisolone aceponate milk and 0.1% hydrocortisone 17-butyrate emulsion, were safe and effective in the treatment of sunburn 3.
- A review of the literature published in 2004 found that there is no consensus on an algorithm for the treatment of sunburn, and that the majority of studies concluded that various treatments, including corticosteroids, NSAIDs, antioxidants, antihistamines, and emollients, were ineffective at decreasing recovery time 4.
Symptomatic Treatment
- The most effective and practical approach to acute sunburn may be symptomatic treatment of UV light-induced symptoms, including erythema, pain, and pruritus 4.
- This approach may help to alleviate the discomfort associated with peeling skin, although it may not directly address the peeling itself.