Shocked By So Many Badly Sunburnt People Around

[MarmaladeSandwich7]

I live in Cornwall which obviously gets very large numbers of holidaymakers but I notice locals that don’t seem to know what sunscreen is for either - customers come to my till looking like lobsters! There’s enough information around about the dangers of not using sun protection at all or not applying it frequently enough, yet people carry on regardless. I have a friend with stage 4 cancer which started because of unprotected sunbathing (she ended up with several moles) 😢 The whole situation is worse because of global warming & these extreme temperatures. I would never even consider anything less than Factor 50 yet you can still buy Factor 15. Reckon we are in for a whole load of skin cancer cases.

Thank you

No. You made an incorrect point. Older people are demonstrably not "the worst".
It's younger people who get more sunburn. Not people like your friends who are "old enough to know better".

DH pretty much only goes pink, very fair skinned and freckly. Stays in the shade and has factor 50 on and covers up. But pink is the colour on summer holidays.

Cornwall is full of flat earthers - they probably think suncream gives you cancer and sells your data to Elon Musk...
bunch of anti-vaxxers down there!

I am solidly hat, spf 50, long sleeves.

Some people can be irrationally stubborn over applying spf for some reason . One of my friends would refuse to apply sun cream at festivals and would end up burnt and he’d then moan all weekend he was in pain. Apparently he’s still exactly the same now on holidays .
I live near to a beach and went for a swim last night and there were so many people coming away from the beach beaming . One girl I actually gasped . She’d obviously fallen asleep or not applied anything .Shes probably in agony now. I’m ginger with typical ginger skin and so I’m really strict with spf. A lot of people think burn = tan unfortunately 🤦‍♀️

I think we should all have parasol’s I have a lovely Japanese one but I do feel a bit daft with it.

I think this is really old fashioned- I don’t know anyone who isn’t aware of sun damage and hasn’t been for at least 20 years. Maybe they’re the people who end up in Cornwall at the end of June?

people do accidentally sunburn though, we did it a couple of years ago and my sister did about 5 years ago. It was a mistake and disappointing when you’re usually so diligent .

@Backedoffhackedoff Do you know any young women aged 16-25ish? There’s a really worrying misunderstanding in that group that high UV is a good thing (because tan). My own DD had picked this up (from TikTok or God knows where) until I explained to her that those are the times she needs to be most careful and ideally avoid being in the sun altogether.

It’s high UV = dangerous, not high UV = best tanning opportunity, which is what many of them seem to believe. And even if they have heard of skin cancer, they seem to believe it’s just a case of having a dodgy mole removed, and while it is simply that in some cases, skin cancer can be a great deal more horrific and deadly. Maybe more education is still needed.

I accept that it happens by accident too.

But sometimes it’s just stupidity. On a recent holiday, we witnessed a man who got burnt on the first day. On day two you might expect to see him in the shade with a T shirt on but no, he was bare chested and back in the sun, despite still being pink from the previous day.

I got caught out yesterday. I didn't leave the house until 6pm, so didn't put sunscreen on, and got burnt. I was out for less than half an hour!

I’ve often seen people using umbrellas as parasols - not in the U.K., though. Thailand, Indonesia, India - very sensible it is, too.

My 16 year old DS is bright red and sunburnt at moment. He went on a 3 day camping and canoeing trip with school to do his Duke of Edinburgh silver expedition and didn’t apply spf to his arms and legs
on the first day. He’s really suffering now poor thing but it’s getting better. I thought he would be sensible and we drummed it into him to use sun cream but he didn’t listen. I know other parents will be judging me as I walk though the airport with him tomorrow going on holiday but there’s not a lot I can do.
Maybe this hard lesson will teach him to be more careful and realise the UK sun in a heatwave is just as fierce as the sun in Europe!

I agree it’s bonkers! My OH, ginger, decided to remove t-shirt because it was cloudy and proceed to spend whole day in garden doing chores (I wasn’t around) and burnt himself to a crisp. I’m really concerned about the damage he’s done to himself 😩😤🤯

Yes I do- I really don’t come across anyone who would listen to TikTok telling them UVs aren’t dangerous but obviously there is all sorts of mad shit on TikTok.

fake tan is really normal!

I know, and people regularly post about knowing the dangers but using them anyway!

There was a thread a while ago where someone was banging on about a “base tan” and how it was necessary to go on holiday 😫

I put factor 50 on mostly but still every year manage to get caught somewhere on my body. It’s very annoying. I’m of the ginger and pale variety. Even 10 minutes exposed can burn me. Last week I burnt the back of my neck. I had applied the cream, went on a water ride at a theme park, and walked back to my car and it was already feeling red. I try my best but I can’t say I’ll never burn again.

@sunshinehappydays

It is a lesson. My 16 year old burnt in the garden when I was at work. “Good for his spots apparently”. And yes the sun has cleared his acne up but he is NOT listening about skin cancer. He burnt on his back though and said he won’t let that happen again.

Also in Cornwall. The sunburn I saw yesterday was 😦.

I think people in airbnbs go to the beach for the day, find a car parking and pay and think "right I'm here now" and stay out far longer than they should, whereas if you live here you can just walk home.

Tanning bed culture is definitely back though, especially among the slightly woo woo/misinformation types who claim it's actually sunscreen that causes skin cancer.

I was at pilates last week and the teacher said to a student "oh wow your tan is looking great" and she replied "thanks, I've been really trying". Meanwhile my 40 y.o ass is over here wearing 50+ on cloudy days 😭 Apart from the cancer risk these glowy young things are going to age like milk.

My neighbour will tell anyone that will listen that COVID vaccines contain microchips 😁

@Backedoffhackedoff maybe my DD and the other young women I know are dafter than the ones you know! 😬

I don’t think it’s that anyone has told them UV is not dangerous; just that they’ve absorbed the message that UV = sun tan, without seeing the message that it is also dangerous. So they have absorbed one half of the story, if that makes sense.

I use Factor 50 and am very careful (recently found I had vit D deficiency)but every summer I still tan. Mediterranean heritage. I actually prefer how I look when paler so I wish I didn't, but better than burning I guess. But I think even tanning means some damage is done.

I grew up in New Zealand, I was about 9 or 10 when I got really badly sunburnt after a day at the lake in the height of summer. Had to go out for dinner that evening and I could barely sit down my thighs were that chared. Very hard but important lesson to learn.

I am pale and blonde, an hour out in the New Zealand sun with temps in the 20s I would start to burn. If I go to the beach, I generally cover up.

@BurnoutBee yikes! Annoyingly the sun has totally cleared all the spots on DS’s face but that’s the only good thing about this. I think you need to go through the pain of sunburn once in a lifetime to make you realise how bad it is and how much it can spoil a holiday. Hopefully DS now knows and will be safer in the future on holidays without us.
I on the other hand was brought up in the 70/80s and was never given suntan cream as a kid, got burned probably on a yearly basis and now see a dermatologist yearly to check my moles. Terrifying!

I don't use suncream as I have sensory issues and can't apply it without wanting to rip my own skin off. My last attempted ended up with me vomiting several times and several deep scratches.

I avoid being out in direct sunlight as much as possible to compensate but I'll still get an accidental burn every few years.

I do keep an eye on moles for any changes and had one removed when I was 18 but I've not had any more issues since.

Aside from the obvious idiots and such, there's a lot of misinformation about particularly on social media platforms, that sunscreen causes cancer so there are people I know (but don't socialise with...) that refuse to wear it or let their kids use it. They do get burned but see this as less risk.