What is Sun Burn & How does it work

What is sunburn?
Over the course of several hours, exposed skin turns bright red and becomes extremely painful when touched. The skin will often feel very warm as well. When you get sunburnt, you're basically killing skin cells. The outer layer of skin on your body is called the epidermis. The outermost cells of the epidermis -- the cells you see and feel on your arm, for example -- are dead. But just below the dead cells is a layer of living cells. These living cells continuously produce new dead cells to replenish your skin. By sitting in the sun, you expose yourself to ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light has the ability to kill cells. Ultraviolet light hits the layer of living cells in the epidermis and starts damaging and killing them. As your body senses the dead cells, two things happen:

1. Your immune system comes in to clean up the mess. It increases blood flow in the affected areas, opening up capillary walls so that white blood cells can come in and remove the damaged cells. The increased blood flow makes your skin warm and red.

2. The nerve endings for pain begin sending signals to your brain. The damaged cells release chemicals that activate pain receptors. This is why sunburned skin is so sensitive. The ways to avoid sunburn (without having to stay inside) are to use a sunscreen, which blocks ultraviolet light, or pace yourself so you get a tan first. When you get a tan, your body essentially creates its own sunscreen using its own special pigment cells in the epidermis.

How Sunburn works

If you are Caucasian and you don't have a tan, then the cells in your skin are not protected from the sun's ultraviolet radiation. You are therefore an easy target for sunburn if you spend too much time in the sun. As anyone who has sunburn knows, sunburn leaves your skin red and extremely painful. In severe cases the skin forms blisters. When you get sunburn, your skin is actually damaged by UV radiation and your body is responding to the damage. When you get sunburnt, what you are really getting is cellular damage from ultraviolet radiation. The body responds to the damage with increased blood flow to the capillary bed of the dermis in order to bring in cells to repair the damage. The extra blood in the capillaries causes the redness - if you press on sunburned skin it will turn white and then return to red as the capillaries refill.

Evidence is now showing that the massive increase in skin cancer is as a result of sun exposure some 20 – 30 years ago in the majority of cases. This demonstrates the huge importance of treating the inviting sun with respect. Food for thought: Treat the sun with respect, always use sunscreen, NEVER use the sun as a means to achieve a regular tan as human nature suggest that most of us to expose the skin too much. For cosmetic tanning, especially a tan that is required at short notice use a sunless tanning product.