Diagnosis
The diagnosis is made on the basis of the skin appearance typical of sunburn and the patient’s medical history. If the skin shows symptoms that are not typical for sunburn, such as pustules, wheals, papules or blisters, a skin rash caused by the sun may be the cause. Sunburn usually heals without visible damage to the skin.
In the case of a severe burn, however, light sensitivity of the affected area may remain, and affected areas of skin may be more intense or paler in color than areas not affected by sunburn. Late damage such as skin cancer can, in the worst case, already occur after a single sunburn, so every sunburn must be avoided. Only about 200 years ago, pallor was still considered chic, people with tanned skin owed this to working outdoors, e.g. in agriculture, which was not a particularly highly regarded activity in society at that time.
Pale skin was the sign of belonging to a high and respected social class, and everything was done to keep the skin as light as possible. Powders and creams were used, long clothes, sun hats and parasols, and even bleaching creams containing lead were used. Repeated bloodletting for a particularly distinguished paleness was also widespread.
It is only since the beginning of the 20th century that tanned skin has become modern in the western world. The tan suggested health, youth and also prosperity; those who were tanned in winter could only achieve this by spending an expensive vacation in the south. Meanwhile everyone can afford tanned skin, solariums are available almost everywhere, and for little money you can approach the current ideal of beauty.
But that is not necessarily healthy: Since brown skin is considered beautiful, the annual new illnesses at skin cancer rise continuously.That has not only to do with an intensified stay in the sun and under artificial UV light, but is to be attributed primarily to the negligent behavior of most humans. Many are the opinion brown become possible only after previous sunburn, others are convinced of the fact that sun protective agents with sun protection factor prevent tanning of the skin at all. These simply wrong opinions and the fact that the consequential damage is only to be expected years or even decades later, cause the steady increase of skin cancer diseases, which could be prevented by better prevention.