Sunburn

Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:

Tea Tree Oil [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present. WARNING: Tea Tree Oil is not recommended for children, pregnant women or mothers that are breastfeeding.

Recommendation: weakly against (There is some evidence that tea tree oil should not be used on burns. There is insufficient evidence to support claims that it helps in the treatment of burns at all.)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla) [1, 2, 3]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: weakly against (Available evidence does not support claims that Chamomile helps treat sunburns. In addition, allergic reactions and side effects like cramps, itching, rashes and difficulty breathing can be relatively common)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Arnica Root (Arnica Montana):

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (available evidence shows that Arnica is in no way helpful in the treatment of sunburns)

Grade of Evidence: moderate quality of evidence

Aloe Vera:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: weakly against (studies are conflicting regarding claims that Aloe Vera helps to treat sunburns. Some studies support this claim, while others report that Aloe can delay healing)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

* www.gradeworkinggroup.org

Summary References

Treatments:

1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009

2. http://www.abchomeopathy.com/r.php/Cham

3. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-chamomile.html

4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18816275

5. http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/972/&page=

6. http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/62/4/769?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=staphaseptic&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2145499

8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9055360

9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12451368

10. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9848442

11. Bishop, C.D. (1995). "Anti-viral Activity of the Essential Oil of Melaleuca alternifolia". Journal of Essential Oil Research: 641–644

12. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/tea-tree-oil

13. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-teatreeoil.html

Public Discussion