Can you pick the peeling skin from your sunburn?

Skin is peeling but not that bad of a sunburn?

• So I was in Miami last week for Spring Break, and I tanned every day for 4 days. I tanned with no sunscreen the first day, but then I put sunscreen on my shoulders (where it tends to burn), and some other sensitive areas, for the next 3 days. Well, my shoulders got slightly burned, (they were just slightly pink, they really didn't hurt at all, (just a little bit.) Two days ago, I woke up and my skin was peeling like crazy. It dosen't hurt, but why is it peeling? My sunburn wasn't even that bad. I have had worse sunburns. And people say that when you peel, that means you got a sunburn that increases your risk of skin cancer. That freaks me out. 0_0 I'm a hypochondriac if you couldn't tell I'm 13 years old and a girl by the way.

• Answer:

  One burn isn't going to cause you any trouble, but keep in mind that repeated serious burning episodes are cumulative in the skin and increase the odds of some kind of skin trouble later in life. Your mistake was not using sunscreen on day 1, when you likely needed it most. You should ALWAYS use a sunscreen when burning is a possibility - that's just responsible skin care. But I guess you know that now. And you don't need the higher SPF sunscreens - stick with an SPF 15 as this will block 99% of the burning rays, and anything higher introduces more dangerous chemicals into your body that can be just as carcinogenic as the sun on unprotected skin. Just reapply frequently, especially after swimming.