For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 12, 2011

I know how she feels, used to get thise kind of sunburns all the time. But that was when I was young and stupid and before they figured out that the sun can cause cancer. Now I try to avoid those kind of burns by using my sunscreen religiously.

You can believe that, when I went to the beach with my girlfriend, I tried my best to make sure she didn’t burn. A guy’s gotta think ahead.

A burn like that is no joke. Painful in the extreme and no relief because it’s all over. Try laying down on a bed with an all-over (or almost) sunburn.

After partying all day and riding in a car all night, I fell asleep (passed out?) on the deck of a sailboat.

I lived in Hawaii for three years and never got a burn like that.

Toronto isn’t the best place to get acclimated to tropical sun.

Bah, the beach. If the sharks don’t get you, the sun will…

Ouch! Got a burn in Rome 3 years ago, forgot to put sunscreen on the top of my back. Took ages to get good. (didn’t find any aloe vera in any of the drugstores either, except for something meant for drinking, yeacch!). Now you can get a burn spray that works wonders, I think it’s made of aloe vera and tea tree oil mostly.

I fell asleep on the beach once. Despite sunblocker I got a serious burn. Could hardly walk and had problems wearing clothing for nearly a week and my skin peeled for a month.

catlady1: I went to one of those all-inclusive resorts once and had problems wearing clothing for nearly a week after I came home… even though I never went outside (bleepin’ unlimited buffet…)

Can you believe people go to tanning salons?

I live in Spain and work outside all year, no sunburn if you do it slowly.

Unfortunately I’ve gotten the bad burns before. One year in college I went on a trip for spring break to the Bahamas and fell asleep in the sun. The sun there’s a lot worse than the Mid-Atlantic that I was used to. It was so bad that I passed out in the grocery store that evening. Not good…

@Pprey - It also depends on your skin. My husband is from Spain and we visit a lot. My oldest child and I get pink first, no matter what kind of sunscreen we use, while my husband and youngest child get brown.

There’s nothing else quite like burning the top of your head when you have a male-pattern hairline. I wear hats a lot nowadays.

I shave my head … and one day my work decided to stick me OUTSIDE, in the 26C temp’s with no hat on. They wouldn’t let me use my Blue Jays hat as it ‘wasn’t company issued.’ My head was redder then a tomato … I attempted to make the company pay for the aloe body lotion I used to moisturize my head so I could talk, eat, and do every day things. They refused. I quit.

Let the romance begin. Dear why don’t you allow me to carefully apply that for you?

Ouch. Been there, had that!

I missed the part in my hair and the strip of skin at the top of my high forehead that my visor didn’t cover.

How well I remember….

Yeah, sunburns are no fun! My skin is pale, so I always have to pile on the sunscreen. Most impressive sunburn I saw was on my son - he insisted that the cloudiness of the sky meant there was no sun to burn him (his skin is like mine). I put on sunscreen anyway - he refused. He couldn’t sleep for 2 weeks - that’s how long it took his body to start peeling (healing) with aloe and moisterizer being tapped (not rubbed in - too painful) on his back, chest and face every day and night.

I had terrible sunburn on my back after we the family watched the dog competation at San Rafael Park in Reno during the hot summer. Boy, that damnsunburn made me so agony! I could not sleep very well with that sunburn on my back. Peeled a lot from my back. ughhh!

LOL!

WebSpider said, about 7 hours ago

Bah, the beach. If the sharks don’t get you, the sun will…

good point!

let the peeling begin!

In Central Florida, you learn to deal with the sun, it takes some practice and I feel for the very white or sensitive skinned. A terrible burn can make you sick also- like sore throat and nausea. If you can’t find it in the store try to find an aloe plant and cut off some leaves, (won’t hurt the plant, nothing does) cut off the sharp edges and peel one side and rub the gel side all over you until it dries out then scrape the layer until it’s gel again, apply again and again. It won’t save you because the damage is done but it will soothe you a little.

Well, so much for those of us who gave Elly the benefit of the doubt yesterday about putting on sunscreen before sunbathing. The 2011 part of me thinks that Elly should have known better. The part of me that knows this was drawn a long time ago has a little more compassion for the lady.

John’s hands in the last panel are very funny. I feel very sorry for him.

My last really bad sunburn I got was 20 years ago on a cruise to Mexico. The sun didn’t really feel all that hot as I walked around Cozumel sightseeing … until the burn developed a little while later. Then for the last 4 days or so of the cruise, I couldn’t wear anything except the clothes I got sunburned in because everything else touched parts of me that hurt like hell! And sleeping? Couldn’t! I couldn’t lay down because my back, chest, arms – everything! – was too burned to lay on. I had to try and sleep as best I could sitting up, which was just about impossible. It was the worst vacation ever!!!!! Ever since then, I never go anywhere without my trusty spf 30 (at least!) sunblock.

GretchensMom,

How funny! I had a very similar experience - about 15 years ago. I fell asleep on a beach in Costa Rica and got really, really sunburned. I was in pain but OK the next couple of days because I covered myself in creams & lotions. But 2 or 3 days after that, I started to ITCH as the skin was peeling/healing. I couldn’t stop scratching long enough to sleep. 96 hours awake and not quite sane near the end of it. Then I slept for about 24 hours straight and felt fine afterwards. Never attempted to tan since then.

Bird I get that. Last time I was burned was a day we went up north to escape the 100+F and rode the ski lifts at our “sno-bol” with temps in the 70s, and I wore a shirt that covered well, I never thought to get a burn- but I did on every part of me that was not covered. I am ususally careful to stay in the shade, but the ski lift was such fun and we were away from the heat.

Me = near-albino white Sun = allergic (seriously! I sneeze when the sun comes up! Me + Sun = not a good idea Me + Sun + SPF 90, replenished every 30 minutes = OK When I was a baby, we went to Florida for a vacation. My mother and I were both sun POISONED, not just burnt. While I was too young to remember, the story was oft-told how Dad had to take care of a very sick baby AND a very sick wife! John’s lucky they didn’t bring the kids.

@lightenup - love your avatar - it is the same one I use on every other forum except for this one … don’t know why not.

I went to Maui with wife and then toddler daughter … I wanted to go to Makena Beach but wife wanted to stay in doors … I had SPF 15 and I “thought” I got my whole back … missed one strip of skin across my shoulder blades where my arm did not reach twisting under or over my shoulders. It burned and blistered - second degree sunburn, I believe. I was in pain for 2 days. Had to cancel snorkel trip to Molokini. Went to Club Lanai and tried to lay in a rope hammock - OMG, that hurt! Had to drive leaning forward. I tend to burn, then peel fast (about 1 week.) Now I put on lotion and try for slow backyard tans landscaping during summers in San Diego, though most any SPF becomes like 90 and I cannot tan. Father once went to beach with us kids and he is farmer’s white - he burned so bad, he needed vinegar baths. Mom was a nurse and gave him camomille baths, too. Sister is fair skinned - got really burned at beach as toddler and had heat stroke. We had to carry her to the car. Dad later in life (still alive now) used to mow our old church’s lawn without suntan lotion and has had about 4 skin cancers removed from face,ears and nose. I had 2 little ones removed - arm and next to eye. I use 15 SPF but I won’t put on huge number SPF - just more chemicals and 30 SPF does same as 100 SPF per docs I’ve read.

Yeah, I was going to bring that up earlier, but I wasn’t sure of the exact threshold. Anything over about 30 is overkill. Conversely, If you want to tan, keep the numbers very low. SPF 15 filters out or blocks 92% of UV(B) rays from the sun.