What Causes a Sunburn?
Sunburns are a very common summertime injury with over one third of the United States population reporting some form of sunburn every year. This article will provide some information on how you can prevent, reduce the severity of, and treat sunburn.
Ways to Prevent a Sunburn
The easiest way to prevent sunburn is by limiting the amount of time your skin is exposed to the sun. The time it takes a sunburn to develop depends on the UV index, time of day, and cloud cover. The next best option is to keep your skin covered. Wear wide brim hats to protect your face and neck and long sleeve sun shirts for your torso and arms. Beach umbrellas are a very effective and convenient way to create shade anywhere you need it.
The last way to prevent, or minimize your chances of, getting sunburned is sunscreen. Although it can help, it’s not one hundred percent effective.
UV Rays
It is important to know there are two types of UV rays: UVA and UVB. Both ray types are responsible for causing skin cancer. UVB rays cause sunburns and skin cancer while UVA rays cause signs of skin aging (sunspots, freckles, and wrinkles). This is important to know because most sunscreens are only able to block UVB rays. So, while sunscreen can greatly reduce your chances of getting a sunburn or developing skin cancer, it will not prevent photoaging and will not fully protect you against developing skin cancer on its own.
Sunscreen should always be used with another form of protection to maintain optimal safety. While sunscreen comes in different strengths, please note SPF ratings are only a measurement how much UVB radiation is blocked. A sunscreen with double the SPF rating will not block double the amount of UVB radiation. For more safety you can also use a sunscreen lip balm to protect your lips from UV rays. The most common SPF ratings are 15, 30, 50, and 100. These block 93%, 97%, 98%, and 99% of UVB radiation respectively. Broad spectrum sunscreens will provide some protection against UVA radiation, but it has about 500 times the number of rays in its spectrum as UVB. As such, is much harder to measure its effectiveness.
Treating a Sunburn
If you have been sunburnt, you should apply a burn cream, keep the affected area covered with a non-adhesive bandage or gauze, avoid the sun, and drink plenty of water.
Cold compresses, running the affected area under cold water, or an oral pain reliever such as Advil or Tylenol can help manage pain. Aloe gel, or any other form of burn cream will relieve pain and facilitate healing. Aloe is favored because of its natural antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic and moisturizing properties, though almost any over-the-counter cream or gel will do the trick. Drinking lots of water is important because sunburns dehydrate the skin. Water is one of the most important ingredients your body needs for cell creation.
A sunburn is usually just an uncomfortable inconvenience, but if you develop blisters or a fever you should contact your doctor. More severe sunburns may be cases of sun poisoning, or worse, and will need to be treated more directly.
Keep yourself safe and healthy this summer by taking the proper precautions to treat and prevent sunburn.
