After a big sunburn, the skin tends to peel. What should be done, and on the contrary avoid doing? Here are the precious tips for a dermatologist.
After a sunburn, sometimes the skin peels. Many love the satisfaction to snatch these little pieces of skin. However, this phenomenon is far from trivial. “When the skin is burned, we will destroy cells. These are burned cells that are eliminated. It is the witness of a large trauma,” explains Dr Isabelle Gallay, dermatologist and vice-president of the National Union of Venerologists.
Obviously, even a sunburn that does not end up peeling is already a sign that the skin has been damaged, which in the long term can in particular make the nest of skin cancer. “The sunburn is an alert. It means that we have taken a large dose of UV. It is especially annoying in children who risk having damaged stem cells, which can give rise to cancers”.
Sunburn during childhood are indeed one of the major risk factors of melanoma, as well as having clear skin, many beauty grains and personal or family history of skin cancer. Exposure to the sun is at the origin of the vast majority of skin cancers, whether melanomas (the least frequent but the most serious) or carcinomas (the most common skin cancer).
So what should be done when you have the skin that peels after a sunburn? “The skin is ignited, dried up. It must be hydrated enormously,” advises Dr Gallay. To do this, you can use a special burning cream, or any classic moisturizer. The little advice in addition to the dermatologist: put the cream in the fridge so that it is cooler, which brings a very pleasant feeling on heated skin!
Do not hesitate to put fresh water on the skin. It is also important to hydrate yourself by drinking a lot of water. Conversely, the dermatologist recommends avoiding tearing off the peeling skin, and obviously avoiding the sun since the skin is even more sensitive to it. For this, we put ourselves in the shade and/or protect ourselves with covering clothes. Finally, it only takes a little patience: the skin will become normal again after a few days.
