Tips to protect your skin from sunburn this summer

Story by: Laura Ingle/CNN
Memorial Day weekend is a time when layers of clothes come off, exposing a lot more skin to the sun. Dermatologists say if you don’t protect yourself properly, it could eventually lead to skin cancer.
Here’s what you need to know to keep your skin safe.
“I think summer is a wonderful reminder to use sun protection, but truthfully sun protection is a year-round activity.  Whether it’s sunny, cloudy, rainy, whatever, sun protection needs to happen every day because ultra violet radiation can come through to you regardless of whether it hurts our skin,” says Dr. Adam Friedman, Director of Dermatologic Research at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.
He says if you think a base tan helps protect you from the sun, think again, “There’s no such thing as a safe tan, a tan is a sign of damage to the skin.”
The one rule of sunscreen is to apply early and re-apply often, no matter the color of your skin.
Dr. Friedman explains, “Skin cancer does not discriminate. Everyone, regardless of skin color needs to use some protective measures.”
When applying sunscreen, make sure you thoroughly cover all of your exposed skin and for extra protection keep the umbrellas, hats and sunglasses within reach.
“Research has shown that just using sunscreen alone is not enough to protect you. So that includes using some protective measures that include hats, sunglasses, clothing, umbrellas, and trying to avoid peak hours between the times of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the day,” he says.
If you do get burned, Dr. Friedman says apply a thick moisturizer or cream to soothe that burn and use cool compresses to ease any pain.