Tanning/ Sun Care

A sunburn is a burn to the skin produced by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, commonly from the sun's rays. A similar burn can be produced by overexposure to other sources of UV such as from tanning lamps, or occupationally, such as from welding arcs. more...

Home
Bath & Body
Dental Care
Dieting/ Slimming
Fragrances
Hair Care
Hair Removal
Health Care
Make-Up/ Cosmetics
Massage
Mobility, Disability &...
Nails/ Manicure/ Pedicure
Natural/ Alternative...
Other Health & Beauty
Over-the-Counter Medicine
Skin/ Face Care
Tanning/ Sun Care
After Sun
Fake Tan
Other Tanning/ Sun Care
Sun Beds/ Lamps
Suntan Lotion/ Sunscreen
Tanning Lotion
Tattoos/ Body Art
Vision/ Glasses/ Lenses
Vitamins/ Supplements

Exposure of the skin to lesser amounts of UV will often produce a suntan. Usual mild symptoms are red or reddish skin that's hot to the touch, a washed out feeling, and mild dizziness.

Sunburn can be life-threatening and is a leading cause of cancer. Sunburn can easily be prevented through the use of sunscreen, clothing (and hats), and by limiting solar exposure, especially during the middle of the day. The only cure for skin burn is slow healing, although skin creams can help.

In the winter time, windburn is commonly confused with a sunburn, with typically milder symptoms.

Development and consequences

Typically there is initial redness (erythema), followed by varying degrees of pain, both proportional in severity to the duration and intensity of exposure. The condition occurs when incident UV radiation exceeds the protective capacity of melanin in the skin. Concentrations of this pigment vary greatly among individuals, but in general, darker-skinned people have more melanin than those with lighter skin. Correspondingly, the incidence of sunburn among dark-skinned individuals is lower.

UV radiation is divided into the UVA (380–315 nm), UVB (315–280 nm) and UVC (280-180 nm) sub-bands. Ozone in the Earth's atmosphere filters out a portion of this before it reaches the planet's surface. UVC is almost entirely eliminated by the atmosphere, but enough UVA and UVB penetrates it that sunburn can occur in less than 15 minutes. Nevertheless, the inflicted harm is often not immediately obvious.

After the exposure, skin may turn red in 2 to 6 hours. Pain is usually most extreme 6 to 48 hours after exposure. The burn continues to develop for 24 to 72 hours occasionally followed by peeling skin in 3 to 8 days. Some peeling and itching may continue for several weeks.

Common symptoms of sunburn include tenderness, pain, edema, itching, red and/or peeling skin, rash, nausea and fever. Also, a small amount of heat is given off from the burn, giving a warm feeling to the affected area. Sunburns may be first- or second-degree burns.

Minor sunburns typically cause nothing more than slight redness and tenderness to the affected areas. In more serious cases blistering can occur. Extreme sunburns can be painful to the point of debilitation and may require hospital care.

With respect to the spectral components of sunlight, the severity of sunburn has been found to peak in the low-frequency UVB range near the 320 nm transition to UVA. This is based on two factors:

erythemal activity - the specific effect of different wavelengths of radiation on the skin; solar irradiance - how much of any solar radiation wavelength can be expected to be incident on the surface of the earth;

The resulting erythemal irradiance metric is calculated by weighting measurements of solar irradiance with experimental measurements of erythemal activity. When this product is graphed, there is a peak at 308 nm.

Read more at Wikipedia.org