FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - The Fourth of July holiday often includes spending time outside. But for those who burn easily, you might want to check this out: A Texas mom posted her family's sunburn remedy to Facebook.
That post has since been shared hundreds of thousands of times, gaining nearly 50,000 comments. But does it really work?
Cindie Allen-Stewart, a Texas mom of two young girls, posted a family remedy for sunburn onto Facebook last week, thinking she was just helping out some friends.
More than 200,000 shares and nearly 50,000 comments later, many are heeding—and some criticizing—her advice.
It almost seems too simple: just lather on some menthol shaving cream, keep on for 30 minutes, then rinse and repeat the same method one time the next day if needed, and then the next, until no longer needed.
Allen-Stewart says menthol shaving cream is her chiller of choice when relieving that burning red.
But is it the best remedy out there? Dr. Michael Blankinship, a dermatologist at Fargo’s Essentia Health, doesn't think so.
"The issue is that a lot of those shaving creams have emulsifiers and other things in them which can act a bit like soaps or other materials and that can also be irritating to skin that's already impaired," he said.
Still, many on social media seem to like it.
Some call the post a "30-minute miracle cure."
Dr. Blankinship says he can see why some are drawn to it.
"It's you know, readily available,” he said, “and it seems like it's kind of an interesting treatment, so I'm sure that that's generated a lot of information too."
Facebook poster, Cindie Allen-Stewart, wants people to know that her before and after pictures were over the course of three days. In a message, she explains the menthol works like a medication, and in this case, soothed her burns the first night, but then wore off.
She reapplied the next day and then she says the heat was gone for good.
“I have never had to apply the shaving cream more than twice (once the first day, once the next day),” Allen-Stewart wrote in a Facebook message to Valley News Live.
Dr. Blankinship says menthol does have a cooling effect—and so does the shaving cream itself.
"Because it's sort of liquidy and as it evaporates, it also has a cooling effect...so it's not that it doesn't have ways that it could work or efficacy, and it probably does help some people," Blankinship said.
But he warns, if you plan on trying it, it's definitely just for the more basic sunburn—no blisters or peeling.
Dr. Blankinship recommends taking an NSAID for symptom relief.
"Something like Ibuprofen or Aleve seems to offer the most help," he said.
And to cool the skin, he recommends keeping aloe vera or another sunburn-specific gel in the fridge.
“The fridge will cool the material down and will feel even better when it goes onto the skin," Blankinship said.
But in her Facebook post, Cindie Allen-Stewart mentions her husband is allergic to aloe, which is one reason she likes the menthol shaving cream option.
To that, Blankinship recommends a refrigerated hypoallergenic option, like plain white petrolatum—something like Vaseline.
"It's a bit sticky,” he said. “Yeah, so wear a white cotton shirt to bed."
Of the thousands of comments on Allen-Stewart’s post, some offered their own advice.
One suggested Preparation H cooling gel, after it eased the pain of a hot oil fryer on his hand. Dr. Blankinship says it has the same cooling effect as the menthol shaving cream, but you can also run into the same problems.
"The material in there can be irritating to people with either otherwise-sensitive skin, or if the sunburn itself has impaired the skin too much," he said.
Another suggested vinegar and water—but mentioned the downside of smelling like vinegar.
"That's a very popular one,” Blankinship said, “I have a lot of my patients that do that."
But he warns the vinegar’s acetic acid can affect some patients’ skin.
Blankinship adds none of these topical remedies can reverse the risk of skin cancer once the DNA is damaged.
And of course, he first and foremost recommends preventative measures: staying on top of the sunblock application. And so does Cindie Allen-Stewart, who says she's only trying to help her friends, who may have been burned anyway.
Thanks for reading Viral sunburn hack: does it work?. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Viral sunburn hack: does it work?"