A single sunburn does slightly raise your risk for melanoma , the most serious kind of skin cancer. If you've had five sunburns, your risk for melanoma is doubled. However, it's also good to remember that melanoma is quite rare, accounting for only 1% of all skin cancer cases . So, of course, sun damage is something you should try to avoid as much as possible. But accidentally getting a sunburn every once in a while is understandable and probably isn't the end of the world.Even if you're not in the sun long enough to burn, that exposure can still do some damage. Melanin is your skin's natural protection against sun damage. Because tanning increases the amount of melanin in your skin (making it a bit darker), "we used to think tanning was good and burning was bad," says Dr. Stein. But more recent research has revealed that the amount of melanin we produce when we tan just isn't enough to outweigh the damage.