SunBurn and Diabetes?

[Nejeda]

Yesterday I went walking with my younger brother, and a friend, same age as me. We all walked the same amount, had the same amount of exposure to the sun, and yet either one of them got sun, while I am so burn it hurts to move my upper body. I do have rather fair skin, but so does my little brother. He didn't get burnt at all.

So what I was wondering is, if there is ANY connection at all between my sunburn and my diabetes? Does my having T1 make me more sensitive to the sun? I know it makes my immune system not as strong thats why I ask. Also... any tips to make it hurt less? :bawling:

[Eri's mom]

Eri has never really had a probem w/ sunburn...although all my kids have really great tanning skin(Sicilian/Irish/Spanish/German)...so she is usually brown as a berry.(Ok, when we lived in FL anyway!!!) Never any worse off than either her brother or sister.

[JediSkipdogg]

Two words....Aloe Vera

I am a red head, and seeing sunlight burns me to a crisp. J/k on that, but I do burn extremely easily just from being a red head with extremely fair skin. I have never heard of any relationship between diabetes and sun burn, it could just be the pigment in your skin and who has more. Being one that just avoids sun, I can't really help on preventing it but just recommend Aloe Vera to help sooth it.

[Nejeda]

Well, I'm not a red head (Not that, it's a bad thing!) I'm naturally extremely light brown/blond (dyed it medium to dark brown) and I have EXTREMELY fair skin, and never gave it a thought. I was too excited, I was putting in job applications for the first time, and I usually wear rather baggy shirts, but I needed to prove a point and show off the fact that I had lost a total of 34 pounds throughout the course of the school year. :rolleyes: I swear I'm intelligent, I really am, my grades say so... it's just common sense I lack! :embarasse

[HollyB]

I think your skin sensitivity/fairness isn't necessarily directly related to the optics of how fair you are. I have three boys, all fair-skinned, but the oldest, who has dark brown hair, has the whitest, most burnable skin. Aaron (diabetic) is blond and in winter looks just as white as the rest of them, but his skin goes golden rather than red in the sun and does not burn as quickly.

In other words, my guess is you just got a bad break. (Another bad break.)

[Penny]

All my life I have been one of those people who turn from lily white to nut brown in the summer. I could spend days in the sun and never burn. Then a few years ago, I was sitting in the bright sun, watching the grandkids in some sporting event, and got my first severe burn! Since then, I do not dare be in the sun at all without sunscreen. I burn everytime. My doctor said it is caused by the medicines I take changing "something"..... wonder if that is what makes me forget the name, too?:biggrin: Are you taking any kind of medications besides insulin, Nejeda?

[KickStart101]

Nope, sorry it's your skin tone and/or heredity. Can't blame that one on Diabetes....okay maybe 5%, to blame. :D

I have a light skin-tone but definitely not as fair as some I've seen. I'm a Good tanner. I used to lie out in the sun for hours(always fell asleep), sometimes smacked all over with baby-oil or splashed with water to tan faster. (Of course, the Sun wasn't as cruel back then). Never got a burn, but did come out once in a blue moon, peeling a little bit days later. One of my Friends, back then however, white as light and red-hair, would play out in the sun for about 40 minutes. Burned to a crisp, pain for a week. Poor Kid. She was not a Diabetic, I was. :D