Nice and Crispy

by Jen
(Minneapolis, MN, USA)

I've only had one sunburn in my life, which wasn't bad in comparison to some of the others I've seen.

My burn was simply from sunscreen of low quality simply sweating off me while I was doing some gardening work.

As I'm Irish with very fair skin, I supposedly have the ability to burn easily - as do my sisters.

One of my sisters in particular, however, did not take the same care with her skin thinking she would be able to tan.

However, typical Irish skin simply burns and then becomes white again and doesn't tan, as was the case with her.

We were out on a boat for a very long day, and I had made sure to completely cover myself in sunscreen, wear longer sleeves and a hat, and sit under the shade on top of the pontoon boat so I wouldn't be directly in the sun.

My sister on the other hand lathered up in oil and sat around in a small swimsuit literally cooking under the heat of the sun.

By the time we went back to our cabin, she was complaining that her skin felt like it was on fire and indeed, it was bright red.

My family argued about the best thing to do for burn treatment for her.

She wanted to take a shower, but we couldn't remember what temperature one is supposed to do to prevent it from worsening.

She ended up taking a freezing cold shower by her own decision and I wonder if this could have made it worse.

Her skin was still bright red, but now she was crying from how much it hurt and she fell asleep sitting up in a chair that night.

Over the next several days the red stayed, but blistered very badly. The worst I've seen in a sunburn - all over her shoulders, upper back, and chest.

After that it peeled and as it was such a large area that was burned, it took weeks to stop completely.

I'm happy that I was smart and stayed under the shade.

Sun Allergy

Human Skin

UV Index

UV Rays