I recently got a sunburn. My skin was peeling and I peeled it [after I was told not to do so.] ....

Question

Then today I looked at my leg and I saw black spots on the sunburn area. I panicked and put hand sanitizer on it. They went away. This was my first sunburn. Are the black spots normal and what can I do to reduce the peeling?

Answer 1

?? - just put some Aloe Vera on it

Answer 2

omg i got horrible sun burn to the point where i was crying and then i kept putting on  aloe avera and it worked so well my lil bro had a really red back and  i kept putting it on his back a couple times a night and after the first day it went away

Answer 3

The black spots are probably dirt that has gotten into the porous skin under the dead skin that you peeled off. That's why they went away when you put some hand sanitizer on them.

To reduce the peeling, load up with some after-sun lotion all over the peeling, already peeled, and non-peeling areas. The dead skin will still flake off (it's dead, after all), but you will help prevent the new skin underneath from doing the same. You might even save some of the skin from peeling.

People say not to peel for a few reasons: (1) you look a little funny with multi-colored skin, (2) you can peel too much and potentially peel off skin that's not ready, exposing a layer of skin underneath (sort of like picking a scab before it's ready), and (3) if you peel too much, you could leave some scarring (although it's not really that common).

Answer 4

It must have been a very bad sunburn. The damage has already been done just try not to do it again or skin cancer might sneak up on you. I use the green aloe vera gel a few times a day or whenever my skin gets thirsty.