The One Thing I Always Keep In My Fridge To Treat Kitchen Burns (It’s Great for Sunburns, Too!)

Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved being in the kitchen. Whether I was whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies with my mother or helping my grandmother put the finishing touches on that night’s dinner, many of my most favorite memories revolve around cooking meals with the ones I love. However, ask any of my loved ones and they’ll also tell you that I can be a bit clumsy in the kitchen. Over the years, this has led to a couple of injuries. Thankfully, as with any misstep in life, they also led to knowledge — particularly around how to treat common kitchen injuries. Now, if there’s one affliction I bestow on myself on the regular is a good old-fashioned burn. My tip for you today, dear reader, is on the must-have product you should be keeping in your refrigerator if you’re someone like me who commonly deals with kitchen burns: Alocane Burn Gel.

As the name suggests, Alocane is an aloe-based burn gel. Using aloe to treat burns is something many of us are familiar with, so what sets Alocane apart from the pack? This burn gel is made with a combination of aloe and lidocaine, a pain reliever that can help take that dreaded sting out of burns, making it a winning combination.

“Using lidocaine with aloe vera helps with pain while the aloe vera soothes the skin,” shares dermatologist Jodi Logerfo, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC. “Aloe vera calms the irritation and burning, and when combined with lidocaine, the relief can be enhanced because of the numbing effect. As a topical anesthetic, lidocaine is used to numb the nerve endings and stop pain signals from reaching your brain. It takes effect within a few minutes of application and can last for up to an hour or more, depending on the concentration.”

Now, while I like to use this product in the kitchen on burns for things like hot lids and oven grates, that’s not how I first discovered it. A couple of years back, I was on vacation and ended up getting a bad sunburn. After venting to my best friend about the Florida sun, she asked me, “Have you ever tried using Alocane? It’s a lifesaver.” Being that she was a resident of the Sunshine State, I figured if anyone were to know about a great burn solution, it would be her. So the next day I picked up a bottle and couldn’t believe the relief, nor that it took me 27 years worth of burns to discover it.

I called her up later that night to thank her for the recommendation when she hit me with even better advice. “Try popping it in the refrigerator! It’ll feel even more soothing and it’ll be there the next time you burn yourself in the kitchen, too.” This hack is something Dr. Logerfo also recommends, sharing, “I definitely love keeping topical meds in the refrigerator. It helps to soothe and cool the skin as well as help with inflammation.” Needless to say, I’ll always keep a bottle in my fridge from now on.

Available in two sizes, Alocane comes in at $9 for a 2.5-ounce bottle (though it’s on sale right now!) and $12 for a 4-ounce bottle. So whether you’re accident-prone like me or someone looking for cooling sunburn relief, I think you’ll find keeping a bottle of Alocane in your fridge to become one our your new go-to life hacks. Lord knows I’ll be keeping this product in stock for decades to come.

Buy: Alocane Burn Gel, $11.95