Micah Stanley
Sunburn often comes as a complete surprise. Wind, water, or fresh altitude mean that people tend to underestimate the sun. Suddenly the skin is red, swollen, inflamed, and painful. Cool cloths or creams are usually used to relieve the pain and allow the inflammation to subside. A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study showed that taking vitamin D after sunburn can relieve it quickly so that vitamin D can be counted among the home remedies for sunburn in the future.
Vitamin D provides relief from sunburn
Vitamin D is a well-known sunshine vitamin. It is mainly formed in the skin when exposed to sunlight. Food supplies very little vitamin D and, with a few exceptions, is not suitable for covering vitamin D requirements.
At the same time, the vitamin D produced with the help of the sun now seems to protect the skin from sunburn or to allow the skin to heal more quickly after sunburn has occurred.
For this purpose, a high dose of vitamin D should be taken within the first hour after a sunburn. Then the vitamin significantly reduces skin redness, swelling, and inflammation – according to a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study by the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The study results were published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
The higher the vitamin D level, the faster the healing of sunburn
The 20 participants in the study received either a placebo preparation or 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 IU of vitamin D one hour after they had sunburned. The subjects and their sunburn were then examined 24, 48, and 72 hours and 1 week after the sunburn Vitamin D intake. Skin samples were also taken for further testing.
Those participants who took the highest doses of vitamin D showed the best effects and had the least severe skin inflammation after 48 hours. The higher the vitamin D level in the participants, the less reddened the skin was. At the same time, an enormous increase in the activity of those genes responsible for skin repair was seen in these subjects.
We found that the effect of vitamin D is dose-dependent,” says Dr. Kurt Lu, author of the study and assistant professor of dermatology at the university hospitals mentioned. The higher the dose, the better the effect.
Vitamin D activates repair genes in the skin
We believe that vitamin D promotes the formation of a protective barrier in the skin through its anti-inflammatory effects. What was surprising was that a certain dose of vitamin D not only suppressed inflammation but also activated repair genes in the skin.”
This increased levels of anti-inflammatory enzymes (arginase-1), which in turn activated other anti-inflammatory compounds and accelerated tissue repair.
This is the first study dedicated to the effect of vitamin D on acute inflammation.
Professor Lu emphasized, of course, that based on this study, one should not switch to taking high doses of vitamin D for sunburn from now on. Finally, the doses of vitamin D tested would far exceed the FDA’s recommended daily allowance of 400 IU. (In Germany 800 IU is generally recommended, in Switzerland 600 to 800 IU). However, the results are promising and should encourage further studies in this regard.
Vitamin D for sunburn and to meet daily needs
However, since 400 to 800 IU can rarely correct a vitamin D deficiency or cover the daily vitamin D requirement (in winter), experts have long since started to ignore official recommendations on the required vitamin D dose and recommend a very high starting dose, especially to remedy a vitamin D deficiency.
