Sunburn, why thou art thyne enemy?

[annoainthere]

Ahhhh, it burns! How could I have forgotten to slip, slop, slap in this cruel Aussie summer weather! How I am vexed by this horrible sunburn. Like a boiled lobster, I sit here sweating in the shade, knowing my tomato red face and scaley lobstery shoulders are my own fault for forgetting just how much the sun is apart of summer.

I usually tan fast, even when burnt badly so I keep a supply of aloe vera or some after sun gel to help take the sting out of the skin. This isn't my first time, and not my worst, but certainly quite funny, my face looks hilarious with a big red nose and cheeks to match, even my forehead took a beating. This best bit is my eyes, they have the huge white band from one side to the other where my sunglasses sit!
Hahaha, looking in a mirror makes me laugh! :cool:

Anyway, I was wondering what are your tips for dealing with sunburn and tales of being sunburned?
:report:

[Oaktree]

Aloe is a beautiful thing. I burn quite easily (pale redhead here), so I have to slather on the sunscreen if I expect to spend any amount of time in direct sunlight. I've managed to get sunburn from sitting by the wave pool at Six Flags for 45 minutes waiting for them to get a lifeguard to fill in for the one who decided not to show up (it was quite bad, too, making my legs very red and swollen, and making walking extremely painful for about two weeks), as well as from walking on the boardwalk at Rehoboth for half an hour when the sun was setting. :wtf:

The worst sunburn of my life happened several years ago when I went to Outer Banks, NC and spent about 5 hours on the beach. I reapplied sunscreen every hour, but still managed to get burns on every inch of exposed skin. I peeled like crazy after that, and the slight darkening of my forearms is the closest thing to tanning that's ever happened to me. That's also when I discovered that my forearms freckle like crazy, but the rest of me doesn't. Weird.

[leo06girl]

That happens to me whenever I don't wear sunscreen in the Summer.

You should really try keeping your aloe vera in the refrigerator. When it's cold from being in there it feels REALLY good on a sunburn. It (obviously) cools a lot more/better than at room temperature. Vitamin E oil also helps me a lot, so does taking a bath in Aveeno bath soak.

[longears15]

I don't get sunburnt, but definitely cool aloe gel is good for any burns and make sure that you keep your fluids up. If you've been long enough in the sun to be badly sunburnt you are going to be dehydrated - water - or even something like hydralyte if you're sweating really heavily isn't a bad idea. Hope the pain settles soon *hugs*

[maxon]

the slight darkening of my forearms is the closest thing to tanning that's ever happened to me. That's also when I discovered that my forearms freckle like crazy, but the rest of me doesn't. Weird.
Oh I get that (also pale skinned redhead - though not red now <sigh>). I swear my arms go brown just because my freckles join up, not through any kind of natural tanning process.

[annoainthere]

Thanks longears15 for the hugs, much appreciated. I always try to keep up the fluids when I get burnt.

Another thing I found that helps are cold showers... it also helps if the water is cold when you have the shower but that can't really be helped unless I want to shower at 5am or 10pm - today was about 31 degrees celcius inside my house and a whooping 37 in the shade outside (in the sun is was about 41!). It's night time now and because the weather has decided to rain, I'm enjoying a balmy 27 degrees celcius, yay rain!

[longears15]

Oh gosh... where in Aussie are you? It supposedly got to 20C here today (down near Melbourne), but I'm not convinced... admittedly I've got a cold and it's making me *feel* cold, but I spend most of the day with my electric blanket on *shivers* Still, I think NYD is meant to be about 36. Uggh.

[crocobaura]

Aspirin is good for sunburns, it reduces the inflamatory process in the skin. Also, it helps to keep the skin and yourlself hydrated. I too burn easily and nowadays mostly avoid sun. I don't get a tan anyway, just get pink skin for a few days. Last time I was at the beach and had sun exposure the whole day, I experienced a delayed sunburn reaction. I used sunscreen all day and I was fine and thought that I had finally found the miracle sunscreen. Half an hour after going indoors my skin started developing sunburn signs. At least it didn't blister.

[Oaktree]

Oh I get that (also pale skinned redhead - though not red now <sigh>). I swear my arms go brown just because my freckles join up, not through any kind of natural tanning process.

I think I managed to somehow end up with slightly more melanin after that burn, though it has since mostly gone pink. Unfortunately, I've got what seems to be a permanent "farmer's tan", though it's actually pink, rather than tan. From about halfway down my upper arm on, I've got a slightly darker pink, probably because I've subjected that area to enough sun that my skin is trying to do the best it can with limited protection mechanisms. :P

[annoainthere]

Oh gosh... where in Aussie are you? It supposedly got to 20C here today (down near Melbourne), but I'm not convinced... admittedly I've got a cold and it's making me *feel* cold, but I spend most of the day with my electric blanket on *shivers* Still, I think NYD is meant to be about 36. Uggh.

Townsville, North Queensland, there's usually only one temperature - hot.

[DrowningFishy]

I am mostly Irish I come in two colors, white and red. Sunscreen don't work, my body will find any excuse to burn, and burn good. Though it's alright I work grave yard now so I have to deal wtih the sun less. Do I know any cures for sunburn, well nope, only that aloe does help but NOT handloation WITH aloe... Ow. Handlotion with aloe will burn, burn worse then the burn and you will be screaming if you have any raw flesh. Few years ago I spent a day at the beach, and my roomie lost my swimsuit so I had to borrow her bikini. ::shudders:: my shoulders were solid bilsters. And that was with sun screen. Never mind where else I had sunburn for the first time. Though the funny thing is is random parts of my skin don't burn or tan. Especially my lower legs, stomach and the under sides of my arms so I end up looking like a deformed candy cane.

FYI I is from California.

[GigaRevival]

I live in Arizona, but anytime I visit another part of the country; they assume I'm either from the Northwest or the Northeast because of how pale I am. So in other words, I feel ya'.

[Rawra]

This reminds me of a time when I was around 10. I was in a tanktop, in my aunt's yard, and it was one of those really, really hot summers. After a few hours of sitting there, my shoulders looked like they were grilled, literally. I couldn't even move them. It was horrible!

I get sunburnt really quickly, considering the fact that I am very pale, despite my black hair. Or I get freckles all over my hands, in the happiest cases.

[leo06girl]

I am mostly Irish I come in two colors, white and red. Sunscreen don't work, my body will find any excuse to burn, and burn good. Though it's alright I work grave yard now so I have to deal wtih the sun less. Do I know any cures for sunburn, well nope, only that aloe does help but NOT handloation WITH aloe... Ow. Handlotion with aloe will burn, burn worse then the burn and you will be screaming if you have any raw flesh. Few years ago I spent a day at the beach, and my roomie lost my swimsuit so I had to borrow her bikini. ::shudders:: my shoulders were solid bilsters. And that was with sun screen. Never mind where else I had sunburn for the first time. Though the funny thing is is random parts of my skin don't burn or tan. Especially my lower legs, stomach and the under sides of my arms so I end up looking like a deformed candy cane.

FYI I is from California.

I am the exact same way. Have you tried the stronger spf Aveeno sunscreen? I burn just as easily, but that does help some.

I am glad to know I am not the only one who looks like a candycane during the Summer :) .

[DrowningFishy]

@leo06girl nothing seems to work for me, shoot I get less sunburned not wearing sunscreen then I do with. Maybe because without I become more leary of the sun and with I am more careless. I nono sun evil, especially after years of working grave yard. XD

[Yazoo]

Gotta love the genes that I was given. I do not burn, I just tan. :D Its awesome. But ahem, Aloe works just wonders. Mhm. >.> But yeah, I know lots of people that get burnt with the evil rays of the sun. But hey! I am the one usually helping by putting Aloe over their wounds of the sun -.-"

Eastern European mutt here :D

[minimogut]

Aloe Vera or After Burn stuff. I don't burn either, I tan, even if I wear sun-screen and stay in the shade all day. The only time I can't remember getting a tan was this past summer, when I was sick, and there-fore didn't go outside at all. I was so freaking pale.

[Johnny_Bravo]

WHEN the summer here gets hot (which didn't happen the last 2 years) I burn very quick. Give me 30 minutes in the sun and I have red shoulders. I probaly burn fast because we rarely have really hot summers here at the Northsea coast.

[Banana Danielle]

I'm have Irish skin. I don't tan at all. On my vacation I burnt some parts of my foot and legs though! D:

[KKiryu007Joker]

I got sunburned once in a bad car. Crappy weather and an ugly jam contributed to it.

[LuvSims2011]

I got sunburned in Hawaii. I was red all over, and if anything touched me it would hurt. Plus, I didn't have any sunglasses. Well, it was my parents' fault for thinking that we should stay at that beach all day . . .

[5M0K3]

I was sunburned for the first time ever last year in Port Aransas (and I was 26 at the time... Yeah, I had NEVER been sunburned before.) and I started freaking out because of all the peeling, but then I realized that's the only good thing about getting burnt, because it's actually very fun. Then my face started peeling, with a bunch of freckles underneath. I tried washing 'em off, did NOT work. (duh.) My back hurt, and my friend tried to give me a back massage, but I nearly punched her in the face.

Moral of the story: Wear sunscreen. ALWAYS.