You’ve
seen it in movies, read it in books; an intrepid band of adventurers (or maybe
just one) must travel through a desert with the clothes on their backs and few
or no supplies. As one expects in the desert, the sun beats down, and after a
full day of traveling, at least one (probably only one) adventurer is
‘severely’ sun burnt. Maybe s/he falls into an exhausted sleep of fevered
dreams. Maybe, if they find an oasis, someone places cool damp cloth on the
reddened face. If natives come to their rescue, the tribal healer may give the
burnt one an ointment to help the skin heal.
Other
than those few bits I’ve mentioned above, the affliction of sunburn is not
mentioned, and doesn’t affect the abilities of that person beyond the first
day.
You’re
not going to see sunburns treated so cavalierly in my books.
Hubby
and I went to a water park during our vacation. I’ve been told all my life that
I have skin like a redhead’s, and I’ve said for decades that I ‘burn at the
drop of a sunbeam’. When we go to a water park, I try to find someplace I can
entertain myself in the shade, with only occasional short stints in the
sunlight. By the time the rest of the family is ready to leave, I hopefully
only have a pink bit of sunburn to contend with.
I
forgot all that, I guess. Oh, I started on the not-so-lazy river, which has
large stretches of shade, but then I wandered to the ‘wave pool’. After 2 hrs
in the mid-day sun, I could tell my face was burnt, so we left. By the time we
reached our room, I was in PAIN! My face felt like it was on fire, my soft
cotton t-shirt scraped my shoulders and back into agony. I slathered on
moisturizer several times the rest of that day, and poured ice beverages down
my throat, hoping to give my body the water it needed to repair this fiery
damage. At least, I did those things until I developed the shivers so bad, all
I could do was curl up inside a blanket on the sofa. I was still shivering when
I went to bed.
The
next day, I stayed indoors, continued with the moisturizer and iced beverages.
And ibuprofen to fight off any more fevers. My face still burned. My shoulders,
back and upper chest gave sharp protests whenever I moved an arm. On day 3, the
burn on my face was pink on the lower cheeks and chin, but still red across the
forehead, cheekbones and nose. The other burnt areas were much the same as
Tuesday, except my back and collar bones - although still very tender - started
to itch. And so my recovery continued slowly, a mixture of pain, tenderness,
care and irritating itchiness. I still hadn’t gotten to the peeling stage.
And
mine would not be considered a ‘severe’ case of sunburn, since I
didn’t have any blisters that first day to indicate a 2nd degree burn.
