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Sunburn can severely damage your skin. Explore our image gallery for tips on achieving beautiful, healthy skin.
©iStockphoto.com/jcarilletSpending winter indoors and then exposing yourself to the sun on a bright spring day can quickly lead to sunburn. Within hours, your skin may turn bright red, feel intensely warm, and become painful to the touch.
A sunburn essentially results in the destruction of skin cells.
The epidermis is the outermost layer of your skin. While the surface cells you see and feel, such as those on your arm, are dead, beneath them lies a layer of living cells. These living cells constantly generate new dead cells to maintain and renew your skin.
When you sit in the sun, your skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, which has the capacity to destroy cells (refer to this page for more information). This ultraviolet light penetrates the living cell layer of the epidermis, causing damage and cell death.
As your body detects the dead cells, two key reactions occur:
- Your immune system responds to clear the damage. It boosts blood flow to the affected areas, widening capillary walls to allow white blood cells to enter and remove the damaged cells. This increased blood flow causes your skin to become warm and red.
- Pain receptors in the nerve endings send signals to your brain. Damaged cells release chemicals that activate these receptors, as explained in How Aspirin Works, making sunburned skin highly sensitive.
To prevent sunburn without staying indoors, you can use sunscreen to block ultraviolet light or gradually build a tan. A tan acts as your body's natural sunscreen, created by pigment cells in the epidermis. For more details, see How Sunburns and Sun Tans Work.
To explore further details, refer to the following page.
