Sunburn treatment in Phuket
Eight degrees from the equator the sun is stronger than anything most visitors have experienced, and cloud makes very little difference to it. Sunburn treatment in Phuket is about cooling, fluid and pain relief — and about recognising the burn that has gone beyond a bad afternoon.
The first evening
Nothing more outdoors today, and ideally nothing much tomorrow either. Shade is not sufficient once skin has already been damaged.
Cool showers or cool damp cloths, repeated. Not ice, which damages already-injured skin.
Drink considerably more than usual — burnt skin loses fluid steadily, and dehydration alongside sunburn is what makes people feel genuinely unwell rather than just sore.
Aloe vera gel, ideally refrigerated, and plain unperfumed moisturiser. Anti-inflammatory painkillers help in the first day or two if there is no reason to avoid them.
What not to put on it
No butter, oil, coconut oil or petroleum jelly, all of which trap heat in the skin.
Nothing containing lidocaine or benzocaine sold as a burn spray, which sensitises skin and occasionally causes a reaction on top of the burn.
Nothing perfumed, and no exfoliating while it is peeling, however satisfying that is.
When it is more than sunburn
Blistering across a large area. Fever, chills, nausea or vomiting. Dizziness, confusion or fainting. A headache that will not shift. Any burn covering a very large proportion of the body.
That combination is sun poisoning — a burn severe enough to make somebody systemically unwell — and it needs assessing rather than waiting out.
Fluid, anti-inflammatories, sometimes steroids, and a drip where dehydration has gone far enough — see IV drips.
Blisters and infection
Leave blisters intact where you can. The skin over them is doing a job and popping them opens a route for bacteria.
Once they break, keep the area clean, cover it, and watch it. Tropical humidity is generous to bacteria and a burnt back infects more readily than it would at home.
Spreading redness beyond the burn, pus, increasing pain after day two or a fever means it needs looking at — see wound care.
Why the sun here is different
The ultraviolet index in Phuket regularly reaches eleven or twelve, which is classified as extreme. Fair skin can burn in fifteen minutes at that level.
Cloud blocks very little ultraviolet. Some of the worst burns happen on overcast days when nobody felt hot.
Water and pale sand reflect it back at you, so a day in the sea doubles the exposure. Being in the water feels cool and provides almost no protection.
Sunscreen, used properly
Factor thirty as a minimum and fifty for fair skin, broad spectrum, and far more of it than most people apply. A full body application is roughly a shot glass.
Reapply every two hours and immediately after swimming or towelling, regardless of what the bottle claims about being waterproof.
Do not forget ears, the tops of feet, the back of the neck, and the parting in your hair — those account for a remarkable share of the burns seen here.
Medication that burns you faster
Several common drugs cause photosensitivity, and people taking them burn far faster than they expect and blame the sunscreen.
Doxycycline, taken for malaria prophylaxis and for acne, is the classic. Some antibiotics, some anti-inflammatories, some diuretics and certain acne treatments do the same.
If you burnt in twenty minutes with sunscreen on, check what you are taking — see prescription refills.
Children and sunburn
Children’s skin burns faster and the damage carries further, because childhood sunburn is linked to skin cancer risk decades later.
Babies under six months should be kept out of direct sun altogether rather than relying on sunscreen.
A burnt child with fever, vomiting or unusual sleepiness needs seeing the same day — see paediatric care.
The overlap with heat illness
Sunburn and heat exhaustion arrive together often, because whatever produced one produced the other.
Burnt skin cannot regulate temperature properly, which makes overheating more likely for several days afterwards.
Nausea, dizziness, weakness and a headache alongside a burn should be treated as both problems at once — see heat exhaustion treatment.
Healing and the rest of the trip
Redness peaks at twelve to twenty-four hours and settles over three to five days. Peeling starts around day three and looks worse than it is.
New skin underneath burns extremely easily. Keep it covered for a week or more, not just shaded.
Sea water on a raw burn stings badly and raises infection risk, so swimming waits until the skin is intact.
The tan people were hoping for does not arrive this way either. A burn that peels takes the pigment with it, so the practical result of a bad first day is a fortnight of looking patchy rather than the colour anybody was after.
Getting help
A doctor can attend your hotel with fluids, pain relief and dressings for the worst of it — see doctor hotel visits.
Bang Tao, Kata and Patong take walk-ins at any hour, including the evening when a day’s damage announces itself.
Days lost to severe sunburn are documented for a claim where a policy covers it — see travel insurance claims.
Be aware that some policies treat sunburn as self-inflicted and exclude it, while covering the dehydration or the skin infection that followed. What is written in the report matters here, and the report describes what was actually treated.
Frequently asked questions
What helps most in the first hours?
Get out of the sun, cool showers or damp cloths, a lot of fluid, aloe gel and anti-inflammatory painkillers.
Should I put oil or petroleum jelly on it?
No. Both trap heat in the skin. Avoid anaesthetic burn sprays too, which can sensitise skin and cause a reaction.
When is it serious?
Widespread blistering, fever, chills, vomiting, dizziness or confusion. That is sun poisoning and it needs treating.
Can I pop the blisters?
Better not to. Intact skin protects what is underneath, and in this humidity an open burn infects readily.
I burnt on a cloudy day.
Cloud blocks very little ultraviolet, and the index here reaches extreme levels. Some of the worst burns happen when nobody felt hot.
How much sunscreen should I use?
About a shot glass for a full body, factor thirty or more, reapplied every two hours and after every swim.
Why did I burn so fast?
Check your medication. Doxycycline and several antibiotics and anti-inflammatories cause photosensitivity, and people blame the sunscreen instead.
When can I swim again?
Once the skin is intact. Sea water on a raw burn stings badly and raises the risk of infection.
Three clinics, none of which close
English-speaking doctors, on duty 24 hours a day. Phuket is bigger than visitors expect and the traffic is worse than the map suggests, so Takecare Medical Clinic works from three separate buildings rather than one: Bang Tao on the north-west coast, Kata in the south, and Patong between them. Each is open every hour of every day, takes people without an appointment, and asks nothing about residency or referrals.
Beyond the island, Takecare Medical Clinic is one of the Takecare Clinic group‘s clinics working across Phuket, Krabi and Chon Buri. That matters mainly for what happens afterwards: move on mid-treatment and the next clinic already holds the notes, so a handover is a call between colleagues rather than a folder you carry through an airport.
Getting seen, and how to choose a branch
There is somebody on the end of +66 81 718 9080 or WhatsApp 24 hours, every day. Say what has gone wrong and the reply will be honest about which of three things you are dealing with: come in now, this will keep until the morning, or skip us entirely and go where there is a surgeon. No appointment exists to be made, and there is no hour at which asking is a nuisance.
Pick whichever branch is nearest rather than whichever sounds largest — they run the same hours and carry the same equipment. Patong suits the west-coast beaches and Bangla Road, Kata covers Karon and the south, and Bang Tao serves Layan, Surin and Cherngtalay. Cannot get out to a clinic? Ask for a doctor hotel visit instead and somebody comes to your room. And if what you need turns out to be beyond any clinic, referral and hospital transfer is arranged from the same conversation. You are made stable before anybody moves you, a colleague rings ahead so the team on the other end knows what is arriving, and the transport is organised for you rather than handed over as one more thing to sort out.