BURN!!

I could be this chick, I suppose. Her skin looks like she is a pug.

Last week, I went tubing for the first time. You may have read about it and my #WTSDS. But it's been a week and a day, and while the redness has subsided from the resulting sunburn, my skin is itching non-stop. Like, I would be at work and would have to run to the bathroom just so I could scratch my skin for 5-10 minutes in peace and without feeling embarrassed. Or wake up in the middle of the night and sit in a warm bath just to make it stop.

Weird thing is, I'm not peeling. It just feels like I have ten million bug bites that won't go away.

Anyways, it turns out that there is a list of things you should and shouldn't do when you have itchy sunburn and I pretty much did all of it wrong. So in the interest of helping you all out in the heat of the summer, here's some tips and tricks courtesy of WikiAnswers to making sure you recover quickly.

1. Whatever you do, don't scratch the sunburn. Hahahaha. Try that telling to my sunburn.
2. If/when your skin starts to peel, don't help the process along. Apparently, the skin tissue under the peeling may not be ready to surface, and exposing it to the elements may result in even more irritated skin. Luckily, I never peeled, which was the result of tip number 3.
3. Use aloe and use it regularly. Literally the second I got out of the sun, I was applying some aloe cream I originally got my redheaded, pale husband. I put it on three times a day (even though it smells like men's cologne), and I swear this stuff kept me from getting the peels, which results in blotchy, disgusting looking skin. I also made sure I didn't wear pants and instead wore loose-fitting dresses for a few days to keep the burn from getting irritated. Embarrassing that my red dress matched my legs? Yes. But at least I didn't peel :)
4. Drink lots of water. Which I don't do enough. Apparently, if you are dehydrated, it keeps the sunburn from going away. 
5. Limit your range of motion until the burn goes away. So my hard core workouts probably weren't the best idea this week...
6. When showering, keep it short and avoid soap on the burned areas. Guessing my warm baths in the middle of the night with bubbles were probably a bad idea ;)

All in all, I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I mean, I was out the sun for seven hours and any sunscreen I put on was immediately washed off by the river water. Anyways, I hope these tips help you get through the rest of the summer burn-free, or at least peel-free.