Summer's just around the corner, but it comes with a tax; sunburns. We all love playing in the sun, maybe at a beach or swimming in your pool, but if don't take the right precautions we can end up with a nasty red burn on our ill-prepared skin. Though painful, it may not seem like that big of a problem, and most of the time it isn't. But it can be.
What is a sunburn, anyway?
The outer layer of skin (the epidermis), the one you can touch and can feel, is dead skin cells. But just below these are living cells, which are easily killed by the ultraviolet light coming from the sun's rays. And when you expose yourself to UV light, you're basically damaging/killing your living cells.
Why is it red and how come it hurts so much?
When the sun starts to harm your skin cells, your body goes into action. It immediately starts to send extra blood flow to the damaged areas, opening the capillary walls so that white blood cells can carry away the harmed cells, resulting in warm and red skin. But why does it hurt if you just barely touch it? That's because the damaged skin cells let out a certain chemical that activates pain receptors and makes your burnt skin extra sensitive.
How do I prevent getting burned?
I'm pretty sure you all know the answer; sun screen. That white lotion doesn't look like much, but it sure can save you from a lot of pain. But what sunscreen should you buy? And what about those SPF numbers, what do they mean? First off, there are two different kind of rays; UVA and UVB. UVA is usually the cause of premature aging, wrinkling and penetrates deep into your skin, making it harder for your immune system to protect you. And UVB is the one that causes sunburns in the first place.
Sun screens come in many different shapes and sizes (i.e., lotions, creams, sticks, gel, etc.), the kind of application you choose is entirely up to you, but you should look out for: water resistant, above 30 SPF and sunscreens that involve these ingredients:
Avobenzone
Cinoxate
Ecamsule
Menthyl anthranilate
Octyl methoxycinnamate
Octyl salicylate
Oxybenzone
Sulisobenzone
Titanium dioxide
Zinc oxide
Try saying on of those five times fast! (List from aad.org!)
SPF 30, what does that mean? SPF stands for sun protection factor and pretty much tells you the effectiveness of the sun screen. But, it mostly protects you from UVB (the burning rays), so, to ensure safety from UVA, the bottle should be labeled "Broad Spectrum" or have one of these ingredients in it:
Titanium dioxide
Zinc oxide
Anthelios SX
Helioplex
(List courtesy of rn-guide-to-skincare.com.)
I hope I've informed you about sunburns!
Learn but don't burn,
Seabolt
