How Does Sunburn Affect the Skin?

Most people that spend too much time outdoors without properly applying sunscreen lotion will find themselves with sunburn. It can be itchy, painful, irritating and on a more long-term scale, it can increase risk of certain dangerous skin conditions such as skin cancer. Needless to say, being outdoors without sunscreen should be avoided whenever possible. Sunburn can affects the skin in many ways--some more serious than others.

Sunburn most heavily affects people with fair skin who aren't often in the sun. Their skin is more susceptible to the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays, moreso than people with naturally darker skin. When you stay out in the sun for a prolonged amount of time, you are submitting yourself to constant damage from ultraviolet light on your skin. Sunburn is the reaction of your body to this damage.

When your skin gets damaged by ultraviolet light, your body's reaction is to send increased amounts of blood to the area in order to repair the damage that the sun caused. This works because blood cells are the main agents of repair inside your body, so more blood cells means faster repairing of the area. The redness of the skin when you have sunburn is caused by this extra blood flow.

Due to the nature of sunburn, it is a signal that you are submitting yourself to extreme amounts of skin damage from ultraviolet light. Sunburn is also an indicator that you could be increasing your risk for various types of skin cancer. Although melanoma is popularly thought to be more dangerous to those who get sunburn, it is not directly caused by the burn. Rather, you increase your risk for melanoma by exposing yourself to ultraviolet rays, not necessarily by getting sunburned.

Although it is not necessarily a good tradeoff, staying out in the sun can also give your skin a tan. This is because the ultraviolet rays react with certain chemicals in your skin to create melanin, which is the pigment that causes your skin to become the darker color. However, because of the many different risks of prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays, it is inadvisable to stay out in the sun for the express purpose of getting a tan.

After you get sunburn, your skin may begin to peel. The peeling is caused by dead skin being rejected from your body. Dry skin is another side-effect of sunburn. To combat both dry skin and peeling skin, applying moisturizer is usually the best way to go.

Resources

• Learn about sunburn treatments.
• Read more about sunburn at WebMD.