Question of the Day - Tuesday, July 5

cassiopea

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Hellloooooo! Happy first Tuesday of July!












What's the worst sunburn you've ever gotten?







Thankfully I hadn't had anything *too bad* - It was around the end of June and it was my second day in Prague. It was a beautiful, albeit very hot and sunny day. I made sure to apply a lot of sunscreen prior to be adventuring in the city but had forgotten to reapply after a couple of hours. 'Lo and behold, my shoulders were red and peeling slightly :lol: on top of that, I also had burns on the back of my ears. Not the end of the world and had a great vacay, but wooweee it was a facepalm moment and twas a tad uncomfy for a bit. Thankfully some nice pharmacies weren't far away for some after care.

Keep in mind I'm very fair, with white skin and naturally blonde hair who never tans - So I reckon I was particularly magnetic to the sun that day!






 

sivyaleah

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So many. Back when I was a kid, using sunscreen wasn't exactly a thing for the most part. Maybe you'd get some put on at the beginning of your beach day but I have no memories of having parents reapply as the day wore on.

I've had heat exhaustion several times that I can remember; horrible burns with blistering, hot skin, etc.

One of the worst experiences, however, was as an adult vacationing in Sanibel Island, Florida. The island is known for it's excellent shelling and I spent hours combing the beach, with my feet in the shallow water. While I used sunscreen with a high SPF, totally forgot that the tops of my feet would get all those sun rays filtered through the water. Holy smokes. The tops of my feet were beyond burnt to the point I could not even wear my sandals it hurt so much. Truly a brutal experience!
 

neely

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I was with friends on spring break from college and fell asleep in the sun for hours. When I got back to school I had to go to the medical clinic immediately because I was sunburned so badly. :sigh:
 

DreamerRose

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In the days before sunscreen was invented, my mother enrolled me and my sister in a day camp offered by the park district. Each day lasted from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We were directed to a counselor who ran the activities from a picnic table. My sister's was across the park in a grove of trees. Mine was near the park district building in the blazing sun all day. I came home sweltering with the heat. It had been a terrible day roasting in the sun. The next morning, I was lobster red all over - face, arms, legs, everywhere except where my clothes were. I was too sick to go back that day and stopped going altogether. I have no idea what anyone thought putting us in the sun like that all day.
 

lorie d.

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Years ago I was playing with my son in the kiddy pool section of our local pool. I don't think we were in the water all that long, but when we got home my skin was burnt bright red. The sunburn was so painful I couldn't stand to have anything touch my skin and had to wear a halter top for the next few days. My son wasn't burned at all after that experience.
 

NY cat man

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When I was a kid, I would get a peel-worthy burn every year working the hay fields, at least the first few times out. The worst one, however, came from my senior picnic, when we went to the Lake Erie shore of Canada, because the drinking age there was 21 at the time and only 18 in the States. I got a really, really nasty burn, only a few days before graduation. I think my whole back peeled multiple times, or so it seemed. Sunscreen? What is that, pray tell?
 

MoochNNoodles

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I had one in high school after the annual church picnic. There is a water park at the place where they have it every year. I didn't blister; but I was in pain and peeling for weeks. The only "funny" part was the white stripe down my spine from having my long hair in a braid. Our church was always very multicultural; so some of my friends had never really experienced that kind of thing. I got gasps from quite a few people at church the next day. My face was ok; just my back and shoulders burned.

My Grandma repeated the story many times of the day she and my grandpa had gone swimming when they were in the service and she burned so bad; even though it was a cloudy day, that the other girls put the burn cream on her they used to treat the wounded GIs coming in. Gram rarely stepped into the sun in all of my memories of her. She let my cousin hear it for laying out to tan when we were teenagers. So yeah; I definitely knew better. I'm MUCH more diligent with my kids. Of course; I married a redhead, so that helps.
 

susanm9006

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I have a fairly dark olive complexion and I pretty much never get sunburn. The worst I ever remember was having the top of my shoulders stinging after a day in the sun but they felt fine by the next morning.
 

Elphaba09

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I have a type of allergy to the sun and cannot be in it for more than a few minutes at a time, even with sunblock. I burn, get large blisters, and feel as if I have a horrible case of the flu that can last a few days. I start getting a headache shortly before it all goes to hex. (This includes unfiltered sunlight coming through regular windows.) Thankfully, I am very mindful of it and have not been burned in a long time. This was not the case when I was young.

When I was 9 or so, I was staying over at my friend's house. Her parents knew about my allergies (I have a lot) but did not really think much of the sun allergy until they invited me to go to a wave action community pool with them. I wanted to go so badly that I pretended to call my mother and get permission. I borrowed my friend's extra suit, and we were on our way. I put on my sunblock and decided I was going to have a grand time. I did not.

Ten/fifteen minutes into our adventure--Before the waves even started!--my head started to hurt. Minutes later, it was so bad that I felt nauseated. My friend looked at me and started freaking out because my skin was already burning and the blisters had started to form. The waves had just restarted, and I wanted to just be in them once and then promised to sit in the shade the rest of the day, so we paddled out on our little floating board to the deep end. Things got worse. My head was killing me, the blisters were getting bigger, the burn was brighter, and, apparently, I get motion sickness from waves. I started vomiting everywhere. They had to close the pool and I was taken to the medical building. They wanted to send me in an ambulance to the hospital, but a phone call to my parents stopped that from happening. I was taken to the hospital and placed in observation overnight. They kept laying cold, wet towels on me. At home, they had the same cold, wet towels for a couple of days. I do not recall how long I was physically sick, but it felt like forever.

Nope, I cannot go out when it is overcast, either. It just takes a little longer for it to make me sick.
 

iPappy

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I went to Cedar Point one year and fell asleep on one of those slow, lazy water rides where you just float around on a raft. I was sunburned on one side! :lol:
 

Jcatbird

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Unh. My mind went immediately to a raft race my husband and I entered. It was our first and last! Lol it was on a kind of wild River and we didn’t know that once in, there would not be anywhere to get out for hours! We were both cooked! We were actually floating in inner tubes, as were many people. We had planned to just enjoy floating in the cool currents. Yeah! Cold water and anything above the water was roasted. My legs and feet swole up, my face, arms and shoulders were red. I had to work the next day and it was agonizing! We both blistered badly and vowed to NEVER do that again. Lol Yes, we did start out with sunscreen! I was so happy to reach the end of that ride! I saw a lot of other red lobsters that day too!
 

iPappy

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Unh. My mind went immediately to a raft race my husband and I entered. It was our first and last! Lol it was on a kind of wild River and we didn’t know that once in, there would not be anywhere to get out for hours! We were both cooked! We were actually floating in inner tubes, as were many people. We had planned to just enjoy floating in the cool currents. Yeah! Cold water and anything above the water was roasted. My legs and feet swole up, my face, arms and shoulders were red. I had to work the next day and it was agonizing! We both blistered badly and vowed to NEVER do that again. Lol Yes, we did start out with sunscreen! I was so happy to reach the end of that ride! I saw a lot of other red lobsters that day too!
I think I read somewhere that you can actually get sunburned on water worse than you can on land, IDK if that's true or not but I think we both had an experience pointing to "yes". :crazy: Yours sounds incredibly painful, how long did it take to get back to normal?
 

Jcatbird

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I grew up on the water and salt water is even worse! Yes, you are so right! Water reflects the light so you kind of get a double dose. Heh! It took a couple of weeks for me to move freely. Wearing jeans was out for awhile! Longer for all the effects to be gone. I peeled a lot! It wasn’t pretty and everyone at work was sympathetic or laughing as I toddled around. :runaround:Ow. Ow. Ow. Everyone that floated with us had it as bad or nearly so. I have had minor burns before and even though fair complexion I really didn’t tan but this was extreme! Oddly, parts of the river were heavily shaded by foliage above but that reflection factor played a part!
I suspect we both got the one sided burn? Top side? Sooooo did you just lay on your back a lot too? No sheet or blanket on top! Ouch!
Back then there was Noxzema cold cream that ladies used. The mother of a friend gave me some and told me to slather it on. I would have tried anything at that point. I think that stuff saved me! When I was at home I was a walking creamsicle. Ahhhhh. Relief.:lol:
 

iPappy

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I grew up on the water and salt water is even worse! Yes, you are so right! Water reflects the light so you kind of get a double dose. Heh! It took a couple of weeks for me to move freely. Wearing jeans was out for awhile! Longer for all the effects to be gone. I peeled a lot! It wasn’t pretty and everyone at work was sympathetic or laughing as I toddled around. :runaround:Ow. Ow. Ow. Everyone that floated with us had it as bad or nearly so. I have had minor burns before and even though fair complexion I really didn’t tan but this was extreme! Oddly, parts of the river were heavily shaded by foliage above but that reflection factor played a part!
I suspect we both got the one sided burn? Top side? Sooooo did you just lay on your back a lot too? No sheet or blanket on top! Ouch!
Back then there was Noxzema cold cream that ladies used. The mother of a friend gave me some and told me to slather it on. I would have tried anything at that point. I think that stuff saved me! When I was at home I was a walking creamsicle. Ahhhhh. Relief.:lol:
Oh yeah, I fell asleep on my back, snoring away! I think I was the only 20 something year old that took the road of the Lazy Lagoon or whatever it's called and snoozed. I'm not a roller coaster person!
I used to play on the water and sand all summer long as a kid. I never really burned, but we kids were on the move the entire time. We never tried to tan, but had steady, even tans all summer long. It wasn't until I tried to get a tan, that I burned!
I had a tub of Noxzema not too long ago, I used it all the time in the early 2000's. Hard to believe that's been 20 years ago, sheesh. It's hard to believe back in the day, rolling around in baby oil was a thing to get a fast tan, too!
 

iPappy

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Hawaii. It was so bad I was at a luau freezing with the chills.
I remember the episode of Mama's Family when they went to Hawaii, and Naomi was so excited but spent the entire vacation in her room, unable to move, yelling about her sunburn. Every time I get the slightest sunburn on my shoulders, I think of Hawaii, and that episode!
 

margecat

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I'm a redhead. I had severe sunburn when I was about 14. My brother had taken me to the beach. I ended up with a fever and being out of it in my head that night, Fortunately, Mom was a nurse.
 

Neko-chan's mama

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July 4 2000. There was a concert on the beach. I was good about applying sunblock every 2 hours, but didn't think to put some under my tank top. When I got home, I had 2 bright red crescents, on top of each breast. Wearing a bra for work the next few days was agony, but I couldn't go without, I'm not small enough to get away with it.
 
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