Sunburnt on holiday and friend frustrated with me

It’s a good idea if you are on holiday somewhere hot to apply sunscreen before getting dressed. That way you don’t miss anywhere including the bits normally covered by swimwear that often get burnt when the swimwear moves. If you don’t do this, by the time you’ve been sitting outside eating breakfast, walked to the pool/beach and found somewhere to sit it might be too late.

Exactly! I am a pale Irish person who has only lived in Oz for a decade, so my skin hasn’t had that long to acclimatise.I don’t burn though, unless I mistakenly miss a bit when I am liberally applying vast amounts of factor 50. I also have lots of big hats and sunnies! There is a lot less sunburn here, but a lot of skin cancer, you have to be careful.The worst burn I ever had was on a hot and windy Portuguese beach when I was a teenager, probably using factor 6 or something stupid, because that’s what you did in the 80s, so I do sympathise!

Also don't be tempted to risk getting burnt again (sounds like you definitely aren't but anyway) - my sunburnt friend decided on the last day of her holiday she wanted to go in the sun again, albeit with lots of cream on. She burnt so badly she ended up with horrendous blisters and had to go to hospital. Surely your friend doesn't want you to end up like that.

Could you go swimming but just be well covered up with hat and rash vest etc? The sea water could actually be quite healing for your sore skin, cool salty water should help ease the burn a bit.

I am going to switch off from this thread now as to be honest it’s making me feel terrible (which I’m sure many of you will be glad to hear, given I should feel awful for years for this horrific crime). It was ultimately a costly mistake and while I do feel like an idiot for it, I’d rather now focus on making the best out of the holiday and doing as much as I can to make sure both of us have a good time.

Seems a bit silly to start a thread asking people to give opinions on a specific issue and then getting upset when they do 🙄

I know you said you're leaving the thread, OP, but if you're in the Canaries you can hire mobility scooters so you can go for 'walks' and shopping at least. Or maybe you could book a sightseeing coach tour or boat trip for whale-watching? Some include stops for swimming and snorkelling which you could join in with if you cover up.

It's easily done. I'm a sun cream fiend but got burned in Barbados because I used factor 30 when I needed 50. Lost 2 days of holiday but it quickly healed after that.

Pure aloe vera if you can get some is like a miracle. Is there anywhere you could buy some Sol Bari type swim wear? I wore that for the rest of the holiday.

As long as you stay in the shade uou will be able to ho with her and watch the water sports.

Burning that badly after 30 minutes with cream on seems both unlikely and unlucky. I have badly burnt a number of times when I was younger but it was never after 30 minutes- normally while snorkelling or swimming. Now I never swim without a rash vest in hot countries. It’s been an absolute game changer.

If the OP has genuinely burnt that badly in 30 minutes she’ll need to take more care any time she’s on holiday in the future and needs to cover up/stay in the shade for the rest of the holiday. Burn on burn would be very bad.

I don’t think it works that way! It wound be useful if it did. Unfortunately evolution takes a little longer to it’s magic…

I think it it about how much cream you put on but also not thinking “just because I put sun cream on means I can sit out in the sun in the middle of the day”.

“I stupidly got badly sunburnt on the first day, despite applying sun cream.”

Yes I have. Multiple times!

Feet are painful but not as bad IMO as the back of your knees and a few other places.

The OP either needs to wear shoes like flip flops with as little contact with the sunburn as possible, or wear socks (for padding) and trainers, which will hurt initially, but can be done up so theres no movement, reducing friction.

Also you are doing quite a lot still not just hiding out, so I think if she makes too much fuss then she is being a bit unkind.

I don’t think you did make a mistake OP, you were only out 30 mins with high protection on. I mean with hindsight it was a mistake as that clearly wasn’t enough for you in those conditions, but many people would have reasonably assumed it would be ok.

I got really badly burned the day after a hammam in Morocco some years back, despite applying factor 30+ regularly. It was unbelievably painful, particularly as it blistered and I needed to be under a cold shower frequently and taking high doses of painkillers. I had a day of that and then was able to do other things for the rest of the trip.

How long do you have left, and can you accelerate your recovery with anti inflammatories, cool water and drinking plenty of water?

Ouch! I burnt my insteps in Thailand many years ago and walking hurt so much for several days. The people suggesting the you just cover up and go for a walk obviously have never burnt any part of their feet including the top - literally every step makes you feel like your skin is vibrating and yet also really tight. It's agony.

I think the friend is being unreasonable and wimpy - the fact that she is afraid of doing activities on her own isn't your problem, assuming you're not trying to make her stay in with you instead of doing them.

It is just a bit shit for both of you so I can understand why she's feeling a bit frustrated, especially if this cost a lot of money and now all the stuff you'd planned to do isn't going to happen. Not really any solution to it now, it's just a shitty situation. Maybe she can try to find some people on the resort she can team up with to do some stuff instead.

She's being a complete dick. You didn't do it on purpose, you're already suffering and missing out on your holiday, and, unless you're being a dick about her going off on her own there's absolutely nothing to stop her doing any of the activities. Encourage her to go off on her own and I'd be re-evaluating the friendship with her if she hasn't actually been sympathetic.

Would you even have wanted to do everything she wants to do anyway or did you want to relax and read /laze by the pool? Does she just always think you should be doing what she wants to do?

That said, once your feet have recovered enough for you to be able to walk without pain don't let the sunshine stop you from doing things - if you want to do them - just cover up with a long sleeved top, trousers, hat and slather the highest factor you can get on an any remaining exposed skin (before you go out). As someone who burns easily I always wear a long sleeved t-shirt to swim in and would happily add leggings if I'd burned my legs.

Prostrate yourself with apologies or you may lose a friend

I'd rather lose someone that have to prostrate myself to them for something that I didn't even do deliberately.

@tabletopsy take care, don’t take any notice of the comments, who would be annoyed!
Stay in the shade, if your friend doesn’t understand, she’s not much of a friend.

Everybody forgets to put sunscreen on their feet unless they live in a hot country so don't worry about that. Putting them in a bucket of cool water ( or a bath like I said) will help. Slather with aloe vera gel ( can get in any chemist) and then at night slather with sorbolene. You poor dear. How annoying when you are on holiday.

If you’re so sensitive to sun that you burn in 30 mins with factor 50 you need to take different precautions.

It’s annoying - I’m super fair and I only ever sit in the shade - with factor 50 and cover fully if I’m walking or on beach so I get it but it’s crazy to sit in sun and think you won’t burn if you’re someone who requires factor 50.

I grew up in the 80s, and although I used suncream, clearly not carefully though and so I've been burnt a lot (much better in the last 15 years though). I've had horrific sunburn, huge blisters etc. Very unpleasant and painful, but as a teenager I thought it was just what happened if you were fair. I don't think I ever sat in my room, couldn't do anything etc. Just find what's least painful to wear, try to stick to shade for a few days and crack on.

I don't think she should be annoyed at you for getting sunburnt, but I do think maybe you could take some ibuprofen, slater on chilled aftersun and just plough on with it a bit.

Yes I think switching off from this thread is a very good idea.

Oh and drink a lot of water. , preferably in a cool bath.