Be Careful When Worshiping the Sun
One of the things that can really put a damper on your summer is over exposure to the sun’s rays. At the beginning of the season many try to get their skin into a tanned look as soon as they possibly can. The people that worship the sun are many in the beginning. They peel off their outer layers and plop down on a beach with nary a worry in the world. You may hear some say “Oh, I never burn, I just tan” or maybe “I can sit in the sun for hours and it has no effect on me”. Those are some famous last words from some of the people now hidden under huge floppy hats and covered to the chin during the rest of the Summer.
Sunburn is the most prevalent of summer skin problems. Just like any burn there are 3 stages to this, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns.
First Degree – This is where the skin is a nice hue of pink or red and yes it can happen on any type of skin no matter how much melanin is involved. It will feel hot and stings to be touched even by clothing. Cool creams and water will reduce the pain, but can actually feel cold and make you shiver since your nerve endings have been scarred.
Second Degree – This is the stage where small blisters appear raised up on the skin. It’s usually on the back or shoulders and needs some immediate attention. Pealing of the skin happens from here and can be very painful and bright red.
Third Degree – When you have pushed yourself to a 3rd degree sun burn you now have raised water filled large blisters with skin eruptions. This is very dangerous and can cause infections that may be life threatening. Please seek medical treatment right away.
All stages of sunburn are dangerous and can cause side effects such as fever, nausea, flu like symptoms, blistering, skin loss and aging skin as well as eczema, dehydration, burns, infection, shock from fluid loss, and even death. This is not something to be glib about. Sunburn is a serious problem and with the reduction of the ozone level more cancerous rays come through than years before.
Now excessive sun, especially over and over again exposure can also lead to skin cancer. This is also not something that can be taken lightly since any cancer can cause additional problems when not promptly treated.
Always use some skin preparation that has a minimum of SPF15. Only get sun in the early morning hours or late in the afternoon. Avoid during 10:00am to 2:00pm as these are the most powerful rays of the day. Be leery of cloudy days as the sun’s effect can cause sunburn here too. If you happen to have a skull that has no hair, take care and use a hat. That hair protected you in most of your youth and now it’s like a new born bottom.
I’m sure you’re wondering what a post like this is doing on a fitness and weight loss blog, but this makes a lot of sense if you’ll bear with me. You see as anyone gets themselves a little smaller in body size and much tighter within their own skin, the natural inclination is to show off that new physique in a lot less clothing than you may have previously donned. The skin that was part of the excess you used to carry around was usually covered by whatever emotional reason. Now that you’ve dropped some weight, that skin most likely hasn’t seen the sun since you were a kid. It has a new and shiny property and needs even more protection. Hey however you get your vitamin D, make sure you protect yourself from the harmful rays of the sun.
Photo courtesy of Victoria-Ann
You are right on that one! Lucky for me I live in Florida, so I get sun on a regular basis. But I do wear hats to keep the face looking younger. Sunscreen is important, but is a real pain in the ass on the face, hence the wide brimmed hat… My ponytail keeps my neck safe also.
The hat is the best thing, though. It also helps the eyes a bit.
I suffered a 2nd degree sunburn once, and have never let that happen to me again. Not fun.
You make a very good point about dropping weight and wanting to show off. I’m dark, but the sun still effects us too, although not as severe. The worst I’ve had was peeling skin.
It may be hard to believe, but my grandmother is Caucasian, European from Austria. She used to drag me and my cousins to Atlantic City every summer weekend and she’d bake on the beach for 6-8 hours, so I’ve witnessed firsthand the damage it can cause. She’s 86 now and her skin seems to be more wrinkly than other people her age.
I liked how you tied in the article to relate to the theme of your blog. Vitamin D is important for one’s body but we should all be careful when exposed to the sun for too long. The types of burns are unpleasant to say the least.
Thank you for you tips..
be carefully…………
I wonder if sunblock cream is really safe to skin? What’s your opinion on this?
Yes it does protect from rays from the sun, but you need to re-apply it every couple of hours. And keep in mind that anything SPF 100 or more usually has the same effect as SPF 50 or so. You don’t always need such a high SPF, you just need to keep re-applying it.
That’s actually one of the most common mistakes that others do… forget to reapply sunblock or sun protecting lotion every once in a while. People seem to get the impression that once it’s there, it’s always there for the day.
Even though it is a huge problem, some sun exposure can be very good for you! Just don’t over do it!
This picture brings back memories. I burn do worry about skin cancer. I like your blogs.
earlier this year shortly after my 14th birthday i went to the beach and came back with a sunburn, it was so painful and couldnt sit up or sleep. It was all red and came up with massive blisters, i went to the doctors and they said it was first degree burns but i searched it up on google and it said that first degree burns only produce redness and pain, but 2nd degree produce 2nd degree.
was the doctors wrong, do you think??
If you disagree with your doctor find a second opinion.
I had a bad experience as a young lady, I forgot to put the lotion on, well didnt really forget, was desperate to get a decent tan. After a day in Disney I came back to the hotel feeling tingly and looking brown. I awoke during the night, skin RED and I felt COLD! – Sunstroke, nasty nasty stuff. People make sure you put your lotion on!
I know its sticky and horrible, you’ll grow to adore the stickyness 🙂
I try to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Only allowing myself about 20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure to get enough vitamin D. Always make sure to re-apply sun block as the day goes on.
Vitamin D… Go drink milk or take a vitamin supplement. Protecting yourself from permanent skin damage or worse skin cancer is more important than your daily intake of vitamin D.
I have a friend who fell asleep on the beach with one eye partially open. The sun burnt his retina; he was a pilot in the airforce and lost his job because of it.