Most people have experienced a sunburn. It's painful, red, and makes you stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe if more people actually knew what a sunburn was, they would think twice about laying in the sun.
A sunburn is your body's reaction to extreme UV (ultraviolet) exposure. Having a sunburn indicates severe damage has been done to the skin. Within just ten minutes, the skin starts its system of defense against the UV exposure. Redness is the first sign of damage. This is when the blood vessels dialate as the body tries to begin repair. Next, the skin will start to feel tight as a result of the skin losing hydration and moisture. Slowly, the skin cells will begin to thicken and melanin will be produced (tanning).
A tan is your body's way of stopping the UV rays from penetrating deeper into the skin and damaging your DNA. If the skin is exposed to high levels of UV rays hyper- or hypopigmentation (lightening or darkening of the skin) can develop. The body does a great job at stopping too much damage from happening but if there's too much damage already, it may result it skin cancer.
Why Does My Skin Peel?
When you peel after a sunburn, it's actually the body's was of getting rid of damaged cells so they don't become cancerous. Because there is a danger of the damaged cells becoming cancerous, they are basically instructed to comit suicide. This mass suicide, if you will, are those layers of peeling skin that fall off. Once the old cells fall off, they are replaced with new cells.
I Have A Sunburn, What Do I Do?
If you notice you've burned, immediately get out of the sun. Drink lots of water because you may also be dehydrated. If you have severe blisters, seek medical attention. It is very important to bring down the inflammation and try to reduce the damage to the deeper layers of your skin.
Take a cold bath, using no products, and pat your body dry. Avoid greasy and thick creams because they prevent the skin from cooling down. Apply a generous amount of soothing after-sun gel to areas that are red and stay away from heat and out of the sun! Look for ingredients that help reduce redness, pain, and irritation such as cucumber, lavender, yucca, clove, and licorice.
After you treat the sunburn it is NOT okay to go back out in the sun! Your skin must be kept out of the sun for a few days as it's still trying to heal. Just because the skin is healing, that doesn't mean that permanent damage hasn't already been done. Premature aging and skin cancer can turn up later in life. You only need to burn five times before the age of 18 to have severe sun damage and skin cancer years down the road! Think twice before you go lay out to get a tan. When you know a tan is damaged skin cells that could lead to cancer, it doesn't seem so cool, does it?