WXMI — One of the most important things to bring with you before heading out for fun in the sun is simple: sunscreen.
If you forget it, you won’t soon forget the burn, but there’s a unique way to cool it down and you can find it in the dairy section.
“To immediately relieve symptoms of sunburn, you can use plain yogurt fresh out of the fridge and that will actually drop the skin temperature immediately and also provide the moisturization that the skin needs to try to heal,” said Dr. Madhuri Kakarala, Internal Medicine, Regional Medical Director, Trinity Health Medical.
Still, the damage may be done.
“Sunburns happen when the top layer of the skin is exposed to too much intensity of ultraviolet rays and the top layer will peel and slough off,” said Dr. Kakarala.
Repeated, long-term damage can lead to long-term implications.
Dr. Kakarala says skin cancer is often a result of sun exposure over a lifetime: “And then the cells actually acquire more and more DNA damage it can transform from inflammation into actual skin cancers.”
There have already been 3,000 cases of melanoma in the state of Michigan in 2022.
Those happen not only in your skin, but also in your eyes, so after sunscreen, get the shades.
A dermatologist can identify precancerous skin damage that can be removed.
There are ways to reverse the damage and a compound of turmeric, a spice you can also find in the grocery store, can help.
“Using topical creams that have curcumin in there as a daily routine can help to prevent skin cancer down the road,” said Dr. Kakarala.
