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[at-l] R'nR article/heat exhaustion/sunburn
Charles,
I agree with you . My dermatologist told me that it is very foolish
for anyone to think that they can build up a tolerance for the suns
affect on their skin. Maybe tanned people can stay out longer without
the obvious affect of sunburn, but, Melanoma (skin cancer) is brought
on by the cumulative affect of sun exposure. Each individual has a
certain exposure limit. For example maybe mine is 2,000 hours of sun
after which melanoma is most likely to form. This cumulative affect is
why it is so important to use sun protection whenever possible
throughout your life. If you are in my age group who grew up before
this enlightenment. Then it is especially important to reduce exposure
now. We used zero sunscreen when I was a child. Baby oil perhaps.
Men get skin cancer on their left arm much more often than other body
areas. The reason is said be that the left arm is exposed to the sun
while driving and so accumulates more sun time.
This is what the dermatologist told me as best I can put it in my own
words.
chase
Charles Copeland wrote:
> This is not a pleasant story:
>
> I have very, very fair skin. In 1977, when I was in college, I went to Ft
> Lauderdale to play baseball at a baseball camp. It was late June and I
> spent the first week in baseball pants and a baseball shirt and only had my
> forearms and neck exposed so I was ok. On the weekend, I went to the beach
> and stayed there from about 11AM to 2PM and then went back to camp. By 4PM,
> the skin had bubbled up on my shoulders and back. By that night, my chest,
> back, and legs were covered in 2nd degree blisters and I was shivering and
> the tops of my feet and ankles were turning black. Its a long, ugly story
> but the bottom line is that even though I grew up playing outside and was
> used to getting sunburned, this episode was the scariest and the worst I've
> ever been.
>
> To this day, I don't go to the beach much and when I do, its usually at dawn
> or dusk. My Troop goes to Sea Base in the Keys but I'm too worried about
> sunburn to go. I carry a quart of 45 sunscreen in my van - it lasts a
> summer.
>
> Charles
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ga. Dawg" <gadog430@charter.net>
> To: <Bluetrail@aol.com>; <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 1:26 PM
> Subject: RE: [at-l] R'nR article/heat exhaustion/sunburn
>
>
> This below is all too true.
>
> I went to Tybee Island in the early eighties as a young and foolish
> early twenties year old.
> No sunscreen, and I stayed on the beach for most of the morning thru
> midday.
>
> I had the worst sunburn that I have ever had. I could not sit down, lay
> down, nothing. And I think that The fact that I am NOT suceptible to
> such things saved me a trip to the ER.
>
> If it had been someone that was less sun/outdoor inclined, and had not
> grown up on the lake in a boat, they would have been extremely extremely
> sick.
>
> To this very day, I still have the small brown spots on my upper body as
> reminders.
> My legs never burn, its my shoulders and the area of my breast bone.
>
> Dawgburn
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
> [mailto:at-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of
> Bluetrail@aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 9:33 AM
> To: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Subject: [at-l] R'nR article/heat exhaustion/sunburn
>
>
>
> Well, I don't know about the article but I do know, from personal
> experience, how little time it takes to get heat exhaustion and
> extremely severe sunburn.
>
> First, I am a VERY fair skinned, blue-eyed, formerly blondish (now
> gray).
>
> In the early 70's I spent between 2.5 and 3 after-lunch hours pulling
> weeds in a ranch garden in Wyoming, elevation 6,500 feet. I was
> crawling around on my hands and knees, and my polo shirt wasn't long
> enough to cover a crescent of "virgin" (never really exposed to the sun)
> skin between the shirt and my jeans. It was the WORST sunburn I've
> ever had--very close to third degree. The skin was swollen and the
> color of raw meat. I hung out at the ranch for two days in my bathrobe!
> I ran a fever. If the crescent had been any larger, I'd have had to go
> to the hospital. Since I did a lot of riding at the time and my hair
> was longish, other skin was somewhat burned, but was at least used to
> sun exposure. The crescent shape was burned onto my skin for years.
> Undoubtedly, altitude added to the problem.
>
> On my first ever backpacking trip, circa 1979, I was doing everything no
> one in his/her right mind would do today. It was Florida, temperature
> 94, humidity Heaven knows what. I was NOT in any kind of hiking
> condition. I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeves white shirt (for sun
> protection). I was probably carrying at least 50 lbs. in my pack. We
> were slogging through sugar sand (loose, deep sand) for less than two
> hours when I noticed I was bone dry--not a drop of sweat anywhere. I
> didn't remember the last half hour of hiking. I told the leader,
> thankfully he had EMT credentials, that I wasn't sweating. He burdened
> some of the others with a lot of my pack contents, took a little extra
> water from everyone, and turned around with me. We took a LOT of time
> walking back to the initial trailhead while the others went on. He put
> a little salt in the water and kept me drinking. He tied a wet bandana
> around my head and kept pouring water on my head. As soon as we got to
> the trailhead, he drove to a store and got me a huge bottle of gatorade
> and saw to it that I drank the whole thing. He took me to the far
> campground and had me get into a cool shower for 30 minutes (keeping my
> head under as much as possible) and then kept me drinking constantly
> through the evening. Even with all the liquid consumed, I didn't pee
> for 24 hours.------I've had one, much less severe experience with heat
> exhaustion in Florida. Milder because I keep a close watch out for
> symptoms now.
>
> I'm not sure about the girl's weird burn patterns, but I do know how
> really little time it can take to get heat exhaustion and/or really
> severe sunburn.
>
> Have fun out there, but try to use more sense than I did.
>
> Joan
> bluetrail@aol.com
>
>
>
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