You can prevent sunburn by protecting your skin. Any exposed part of your body can burn. Your eyes, which are extremely sensitive to the sun’s UV light can also burn. Sunburned eyes may feel gritty and painful. Melanin helps protect the skin against effects of the sun such as skin cancers and premature aging. People with lighter skin color and lower amounts of melanin leave them more vulnerable to the sun’s carcinogenic (cancercausing) ultraviolet rays. However, that does not make people with darker skin immune to skin cancer. The use of sunscreen by everyone, no matter what skin color on a regular basis is very important.