Severe sunburn is treated like any other burn, and you should see your doctor immediately. In addition, young children are highly susceptible to dehydration, and this also needs prompt medical attention. If your child has only minor redness and soreness, and his skin feels warm, keep him indoors. Paracetamol given according to directions can help to reduce the pain. Encourage your child to drink a lot to replace fluid loss due to the burn. Showers may only aggravate the pain, so gentle bathing in tepid water is preferable. Avoid using soap on the area of the burn.

Commercial preparations available over the counter which claim to soothe sunburn usually contain some local anaesthetic, and we do not recommend their use. Never put butter on a burn — this can actually worsen the burn and lead to infection.

• if blisters break open or the fluid inside them is murky;

• if your child has a fever, or is listless;

• if you cannot control your child’s pain with the measures outlined above;

• if there is marked swelling in the area of the burn, or the burn itself looks infected.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 7:29 am and is filed under General health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.