# Epic Sunburn **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720 "2008-04-24T18:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/1 "2008-04-24T18:19:12Z")
Eight days ago I went down to Laguna Beach, California, to lie out in the sun because there was some work being done at my house. I figured, what the hell, I’ll just lie out for a couple hours, get some lunch, yada yada, whatever. Kill some time all day. Well, I fell asleep. I was next to a cliff, so my face wasn’t so bad, my chest _was_ bad, my legs were in bad, bad shape, and my ankles and feet were the worst, because the shadow of the cliff fell first over my face down past my feet during the course of the day. I couldn’t walk from last Thursday to about this last Monday. From my legs down I looked like a fallout victim. My ankles and feet were a sickly shade of orange, and they were very blistered. It was BAD. I sprayed some Solarcaine on my legs a couple days ago, and it was a nightmarish experience that followed :eek:. I will not do that again _shudder_. So yeah, Epic Sunburn, verily. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/2 "2008-04-24T18:36:28Z")
I hate getting sunburned. Happened to me at a performance a couple of weeks ago. I just stopped peeling. I can’t believe that I neglected to put on sunscreen. Good luck with your recovery. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/3 "2008-04-24T19:13:14Z")
I wear SPF 50 when I go out. I learned my lesson a few years ago when my legs were dark purple and I couldn’t walk for a few days. And anyone who says anything over SPF 15 is a waste needs to spend the day in the south Florida summer sun followed by a hardy slap on their newly sunburned ass! ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/4 "2008-04-24T19:25:44Z")
I need pictures! Here’s my bad one from last summer: [Ouch!](http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/EmAnJ/Burnedback.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/5 "2008-04-24T20:08:05Z")
My worst one was in my late teens, I think I was like 15 or 16. We had spent the day at the waterpark and those were the days before SPF anything. I just got a new bathing suit that dipped lower on my back than the one that replaced it, and all that newly exposed skin was skorched to the Nth degree!! I had HUGE blisters all over my back, I could barely wear clothing for 2 or 3 days and I had to sleep on my stomach. The only thing that I could wear with comfort was the swimsuit I wore that day!! My dad wanted to take me to the hospital but I begged and pleaded not to go…just the thought of sitting in the car for the ride was more than I could bear. I don’t know the degree of burns, but I have to think this was 2nd degree at the least. Crazy teenagers!! ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/6 "2008-04-24T20:12:26Z")
Aiee. I was outdoors all the time, growing up. This was in Texas. We didn’t use a lot of sunscreen unless we were going to be going to the beach or Wet’n’Wild, or somesuch. We usually went with SPF 30, as I recall. Australia with its ‘Slip, Slap, Slop’ philosophy was a novel experience. Fallout sunburn sounds… really, really painful. :eek: The worst sunburn I’ve ever got was on my shoulders when sunscreen washed off at a water park. While I didn’t blister, I definitely peeled. I still have the faint marks on my shoulders if I look. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/7 "2008-04-24T20:14:13Z")
I…uh…think I’ve had a little circle of sunburn on my nose once…about 12 years ago. _snicker_ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/8 "2008-04-24T20:21:48Z")
Ouch ouch ouch. I feel your pain. (Almost literally.) May I introduce you guys to [plantain?](http://www.herbies-herbs.com/pages/herbpictures/plantain6430L.jpg) Not the banana-like plant, but the little bugger that grows in your lawn. Yes, your lawn. Everybody’s lawn! [Here are a few of his close cousins](http://www.shammelle.com/Portals/0/PlantainCloseUp.jpg). The key to identifying plantain is that all the veins run from tip to tip, parallel to one another, instead of branching off like in a maple leaf. Next time you get a sunburn (or a bug bite, or a zit, or a burn from your oven), send your kid outside to pick you some plantain. Throw it in the blender or food processor and whir it up into a paste. Then slap that onto your owie. Leave it there until it dries up and falls off on its own. You’ll FEEL the redness and heat being pulled right out of your skin; it’s amazing. If you don’t have a blender handy, you can chew up the leaves and spit out the pulpy mash into your hand and use that. ---
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/9 "2008-04-24T20:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=EmAnJ] I need pictures! Here’s my bad one from last summer: [Ouch!](http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/EmAnJ/Burnedback.jpg) [/QUOTE] I can’t provide pictures because the closest thing I have to a digital camera or anything I can take pictures with is my camera phone. But my skin was much worse, lol. It was, like, charred. Charred is the proper word. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/10 "2008-04-24T20:21:59Z")
I fell asleep on a beach after a short dip in the ocean in Eastern Quebec a few years ago. The swim in the ocean washed off the sunscreen I had carefully applied, and I fell asleep for several hours lying on my belly face down, wearing a one piece bathing suit, so my back, shoulders, thighs, calves, and some of my butt were burned to a crisp. I was just passing through the small town I was in and I had to sleep in a hostel that night. While everyone else was sleeping with just thin sheets and complaining of the heat, I was shivering under three woolly blankets. I spent half the night drinking water and getting up to pee. One of the last times I had to get up I had to crawl down the hallway because I was too weak to stand up. Like **HelloKitty** , everyone told me to go to the hospital, but I just couldn’t stand the idea of taking the bus to the next town over where the hospital was (truth is I was also embarrassed). I ended up drinking a liter of grape Pedialyte that another hostel guest got for me, and it made me feel amazingly better. She also brought me a big-ass tube of Aloe Vera cream, god bless her! ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/11 "2008-04-24T20:23:26Z")
You know, a sunburn is a BURN. Maybe you should see a doctor or something? Ooh, look, [www.mayoclinic.com](http://www.mayoclinic.com) says: > [@](#): > > Seek medical care for sunburn if: > – Severe sunburn covers a large portion of your body with blisters > – Sunburn is accompanied by a high fever or extreme pain > – Severe sunburn doesn’t respond to at-home care within a few days Ya might need ya some drugs there, padna. Edit to add: wtf? “charred”?!? GO TO THE DOCTOR!!! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/12 "2008-04-24T20:25:26Z")
I had one in my teens (1969ish) that left a scar on my back that took 20 years to fade. I remember the only real relief I got was when my grandmother (a nurse) soaked bedsheets in cool brewed tea and wrapped me in them. Do people still do that? ---
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/13 "2008-04-24T20:37:42Z")
[QUOTE=EmAnJ] I need pictures! Here’s my bad one from last summer: [Ouch!](http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/EmAnJ/Burnedback.jpg) [/QUOTE] Ok, heres the best I can do, lol! This was taken with my camera phone, soooooo… You can (kinda) see where my ankle is charred and cracked (barely). Seriously, this photo doesn’t do it justice. [![](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/0424081327.jpg) ](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/0424081327.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/14 "2008-04-24T20:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] Edit to add: wtf? “charred”?!? GO TO THE DOCTOR!!! [/QUOTE] Eeek! Yes, what she said! ---
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/15 "2008-04-24T22:37:11Z")
[QUOTE=Meyer6] I fell asleep on a beach after a short dip in the ocean in Eastern Quebec a few years ago. The swim in the ocean washed off the sunscreen I had carefully applied, and I fell asleep for several hours lying on my belly face down, wearing a one piece bathing suit, so my back, shoulders, thighs, calves, and some of my butt were burned to a crisp. I was just passing through the small town I was in and I had to sleep in a hostel that night. While everyone else was sleeping with just thin sheets and complaining of the heat, I was shivering under three woolly blankets. I spent half the night drinking water and getting up to pee. One of the last times I had to get up I had to crawl down the hallway because I was too weak to stand up. Like **HelloKitty** , everyone told me to go to the hospital, but I just couldn’t stand the idea of taking the bus to the next town over where the hospital was (truth is I was also embarrassed). I ended up drinking a liter of grape Pedialyte that another hostel guest got for me, and it made me feel amazingly better. She also brought me a big-ass tube of Aloe Vera cream, god bless her! [/QUOTE] That is so funny what you said about shivering under three blankets. Something that absolutely struck me as curious and that I remembered very well was the fact that at midnight, the day that it happened, when I went out to smoke a cigarette I was shivering like a madman. I thought, “Damn, I’ve never shivered so bad in my life!” I guess getting burnt to hell causes some kind of problem with staying warm after it happens. ---
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/16 "2008-04-24T22:50:48Z")
OK, I got a pretty good pic of my burn. Check it out: [![](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/0424081546.jpg) ](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/0424081546.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/17 "2008-04-24T23:08:48Z")
Mine always look like that after too. You’re just peeling! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/18 "2008-04-24T23:17:31Z")
I was feeling rather Thermador Lobsterish after the swap-meet at Englishtown last weekend. I was so concerned with the boys that I didn’t take basic self precautions. Still, it was Minor compared to the OP. Get thee to a Physicery …or off the rotisserie …or something. Feel better, huh? ---
**Author:** ![mburnquist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@mburnquist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mburnquist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/19 "2008-04-24T23:34:32Z")
OK, this is a REAL good one. Of course, this is after I’ve had eight days to convalesce. [![](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/burnt.jpg) ](https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll70/mburnquist_photos/burnt.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720/20 "2008-04-24T23:36:53Z")
Ewwww - that is an epic sunburn! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epic-sunburn/446720.md?page=2)