Vietnam Trip, Day 10 | Hoi An Beach, One Grilled Tomato Coming Up

Example of somebody with a Sunburn - not me ;-)

Note: Not me, but pretty close

I remember this day, because it was the day I hit the beach and came back to my hotel to take a shower, only to realize that I’d gotten the worst sunburn of my life. And before my fellow readers say: “Well, you should have used sun lotion.”, believe me, I did. But despite applying sun lotion (SPF 20) every 30-45 min. I got a sunburn on my whole back and even legs!

Because I didn’t have a headache, severe fatigue or fever, my sunburn was not severe. And remember, the redness of a sunburn does not tell you the severity of the sunburn, but I sure did look like I grilled tomato. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a whole body picture of myself, but then again it sure wouldn’t have been a pleasant site.

Anyway, I definitely had to do something about my sunburn, as I wanted to go scuba diving the next day. At the next pharmacy I requested Aloe Vera Gel, 1,000 mg of vitamin C, 400 UI of vitamin E and 15 mg of beta carotine.

At this point you’re probably wondering if I wanted to become a professional drug dealer, but I can assure you that wasn’t my intention. My list of drugs had some logic behind it, which I’ll explain later on in this post. The only thing the pharmacy didn’t have, was beta carotine, but that was on the more “exotic” things on my list.

: Forever Living Product Aloe Vera Gel

I was, however, surprised to see that they had and even recommend the Forever Living Product Aloe Vera Gel. That was exactly the tube I left at home, thinking I wouldn’t need it. I paid a total of VND 420,000, which was around US $ 20. Another reason why I just love Asia – it’s still cheap, even though the Aloe Vera was US $ 14 by itself, but well worth it. I can certainly testify that the Forever Living Product Aloe Vera Gel is an abolutely awesome and very effective product. I’ve used it on many occasions including on burns, rashes and other skin emergencies. The redness of my sunburn was significantly decreased in the morning after I applied it the night before.

So why did I choose those specific vitamins?

Consuming extra doses of vitamin C aids the healing process of burns and other wounds. Vitamin A and E, which are antioxidants, speed up the healing process. Good natural sources of vitamin A are green fruits and vegetables. Cereals and nuts on the other hand, are high in vitamin E. You can even apply vitamin E directly on your sunburn. Many people experience faster healing by applying the vitamin E liquid form the capsule to the sunburn. You could also use argan or nigella sativa oil for this purpose. I’ve also read that zinc is not only responsible for healthier skin, but can also aid in a quicker recovery time. I haven’t tried zinc myself, but it can’t hurt to include an extra portion of zinc rich foods (e.g. crab meat and fish) in your diet for the next few days.

This is also one of the many reason you should eat a very healthy diet. The better your diet, the better your body can absorb such “blows”. Drinking plenty of freshly pressed vegetable and fruit juices after a sunburn is the best remedy you could possible use in such a case! Try to drink as many undiluted juices as possible, preferable vegetable juices (especially broccoli), as vegetables generally contain more nutrients per calorie than fruits do. Don’t worry, vegetable juices with broccoli actually taste pretty good if you add other vegetables and a lemon or lime to it as well.

I’d also recommend you to use the natural form of vitamins, meaning, eat whole foods and try to avoid synthetic vitamins. Vitamins in their natural form are significantly more effective than synthetic based vitamins. I read somewhere that 37 mg natural vitamin C is just as effective as 1,000 mg synthetic vitamin C. See what I mean? Nature has all the answers. But if you just can’t increase your daily intake of fruits and vegetables, go for the pills and remember to choose the red pill.

So let this be a lesson to all you people. Instead of relying on sunscreen, wear sun blocking clothing! Coolibar for example, offers a wide variety of sun protection clothing. You can purchase Coolibar shirts like these at Amazon. Alternatively you could also use a high quality full spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 60-65 like the Fallene Total Block. I’d recommend getting the Fallene Cotz SPF 58 though, which is also water resistant.

And should you still get a bad sunburn like me, try to minimize the damage to your skin and body using natural remedies like the one describe above.

Before any pharmaceutical company tries to sue me, please read my disclaimer and think again.