With temperatures reaching close to 90 degrees the next couple of days, Greene County Public Health cautions everyone about the potential for sunburns.

Greene County Public Health Director Becky Wolf explains how to treat someone or yourself for sunburns.

“You want to take frequent, cold baths or showers to help relieve the pain. You can apply aloe vera moisturizer to help trap the water in your skin and it eases your skin’s dryness. You might want to take some ibuprofen or Tylenol for discomfort. That will also help reduce the swelling, the redness and discomfort, especially ibuprofen.” 

Wolf advises drinking lots of water when you have a sunburn, because sunburns draw the water to the surface and dries out the rest of the body. She adds that a typical sunburn is first-degree burn, but when it develops into blisters, those are second-degree burns. Wolf recommends not popping the blisters, but allowing them to heal so as it not let them get infected.

Wolf reminds everyone to use sunscreen if going outdoors and to use sunscreen with at least a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 to help protect against sunburns.