Like a cup of tea for a cough, a batch of ice for a sunburn may seem like the perfect remedy for millions of Americans who will spend a little too much time in the sun this summer.

But many home remedies that seem like common sense are less than helpful, and the old ice-for-a-burn technique is no exception. It can help soothe some initial pain, but in the end it will slow the healing process.

That has been borne out over the years in various studies of simple treatments for minor scalds and sunburns. In one randomized study by Danish researchers in 2002, 24 healthy volunteers were inflicted with first-degree burns and subjected to different treatments. Those who received a cooling treatment similar to ice did not experience reduced pain or inflammation compared with those who received a placebo treatment.

In another study in the journal Burns in 1997, another team of scientists compared easing burns with ice cubes for 10 minutes with other remedies and found that ice caused “the most severe damage.” “Using an ice cube immediately after injury,” the authors added, “is harmful in some instances.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, putting ice on a burn can cause frostbite and damage the skin. For better results, try running cool water over the area and taking a pain reliever. Then cover the area with gauze but no ointment. Most minor burns heal without further treatment, the clinic says.

就像喝杯水對咳嗽有好處，用冰塊來治療曬傷，對于上百萬在這個夏天要花費較多時間在太陽底下的美國人來說是一個絕佳的補救措施。

但是許多被認為是常識的家庭治療方案好像并不正確，這個流傳已久的用冰治療皮膚灼傷的方法也不例外。它可能幫助緩解皮膚灼傷最初的疼痛，但是它最終將減緩恢復過程。

多年來各項關于燙傷，曬傷的治療方法的研究結果已經證實了這一點。2002年由丹麥研究員做了一項隨機調查，24個健康志愿者給予一度燒傷并且進行了不同的治療。比較那些接受一種安慰劑治療的人，接受一種類似于冰的冷卻治療的人并沒有減少疼痛和炎癥的發生。

1997年另一項關于燒傷的雜志研究表明，另一隊科學家對用冰塊10分鐘和用其他方法來緩解燒傷做了比較，發現冰塊“導致了更嚴重的傷害”。“在一些例子中，受傷之后立刻用冰塊是非常有害的，”研究者補充說。

根據Mayo診所的說法，把冰放在燒傷處可能導致凍傷和損傷皮膚。 為了達到更好的治療效果，可在燒傷處淋些涼水并上些止痛藥，然后用紗布包住，但不要在上面抹軟膏。較小的燒傷無須進一步的治療，診所的人說道。