What Actually Happens When You Get a Sunburn

 What Actually Happens When You Get a Sunburn

It’s summertime; the sun is shining, the waves are crashing on the beach, and you’re laying out getting a nice tan. Everything is going great until you head inside and look in the mirror. Your skin is bright red and you seem to be radiating heat. You got sunburned and the next few days are going to be really uncomfortable. 

But what is sunburn and why does it happen? When we think of a burn the first thing that comes to mind is a thermal burn from a fire or stove. This is when your body is exposed to extreme heat, and although the sun is definitely a source of extreme heat, a sunburn is not thermal burn. Sunburn itself is actually a radiation burn; in particular it is caused by the ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun.

 Ultraviolet radiation is the wavelengths of energy slightly shorter than what we see as the color purple. When they strike your skin in high doses from the sun, they can cause radiation burns. This is actually what causes your skin to turn red and uncomfortable when you spend too much time in the sun, not a thermal burn from the sun’s heat. 

What Actually Happens When You Get a Sunburn

There are of course ways to prevent sunburns well as treat it to reduce the pain, heat, and swelling. Some of these remedies you probably already know; others might not be so familiar. But first let’s look at what actually happens to your body when you get a sunburn.

We know that sunburn isn’t caused by intense thermal heat because you can get a sunburn even when it’s cold out. If you’ve ever spent the day skiing, snowboarding, or sledding on a cloudless winter day you’ve probably gotten a mild sunburn once or twice during the winter season. This is because during all times of the year the sun is bombarding us with ultraviolet radiation. 

The ozone layer of our atmosphere protects us from much of this radiation--if it didn’t we would all have been dead a long time ago--but some does still get through. When the radiation comes in contact with your skin and other cells of your body it causes chemical reactions to occur. What this means is the cells in your body start creating proteins and enzymes that are not necessarily needed at the time? 

The most common proteins being produced are the ones your body uses to repair and replenish damaged cells. This makes sense because the sun’s radiation is literally destroying your body’s cells. This flood of proteins is one of the things that causes discomfort as they try to repair the damage the sun is causing. 

The next thing that happens when the radiation interacts with your body is that blood vessels dilate to increase the amount of blood flow. This is also a reaction your body undertakes to try and repair itself from the damage being done by the sun. It also allows immune cells to reach the skin and combat the biggest health threat caused by the sun’s radiation: cancer. 

It is the increased blood flow and immune response that causes the inflammation and redness associated with sunburn. It takes a little while for your body to start mounting defenses against the sun’s radiation, which is why sunburn symptoms normally don’t manifest until four to six hours after being burnt. 

Once your body is exposed to intense amounts of radiation from the sun it immediately tries to protect itself, however, the repair proteins and immune system response need time to ramp up production and disperse throughout the body. So to put it bluntly: sunburn is the sun’s radiation destroying the cells of your body. 

We know that the sunburn is caused by radiation and that it is the body reacting to this radiation that causes the symptoms of sunburn; but what is actually happening to your cells? And is it dangerous? The answers to these questions might surprise you. When we think of a burn we think of an increase in temperature. 

This actually is not the case within your body when you get sunburn. Even though you may feel like you are radiating heat, your internal temperature almost always stays at its normal level at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Irritation and dehydration may make you feel hotter, but your actual temperature does not increase because of sunburn. 

However, the inflammation and biochemical responses your body goes through can cause a slight rise in temperature at the skin’s surface, due to more blood and fluids being brought to the sunburn areas of the body to fix the damage that has been done. The symptoms of sunburn are caused by the body trying to repair itself after being cooked by radiation, but what is the actual damage? 

When your skin cells are bombarded by the ultraviolet radiation from the sun they begin to cook, and the structures within the cells begin to denature. This means that proteins, lipids, and other molecules that make up your cells, and help them carry out their life functions, begin to change shape or fall apart. 

What Actually Happens When You Get a Sunburn

When this happens the cell cannot perform the tasks necessary to stay alive and it dies. Now this isn’t necessarily a problem as long as your body can replace the cells with new ones. However, this does not always happen. Your cells are able to divide and replace themselves with new cells only a set number of times. 

This is actually what causes some of the symptoms of aging since your cells stop generating new versions of themselves once they have reached the end of their replication life cycle. The most dangerous thing radiation does to your cells is alter their DNA. The DNA in every one of your body cells is identical. 

It’s what makes you you. However, changes in the DNA called mutations can cause some life threatening changes in your body. When the radiation enters your cells, and interacts with your genetic material. It can literally rip the DNA apart. This will cause the cell to try and repair your DNA, but mistakes happen, and those mistakes could have drastic consequences. If the mutation occurs in the wrong place it can lead to that cell reproducing uncontrollably. 

Normally when a cell divides there is a code of DNA that tells the division to stop once completed? However, when this does not happen the cell will continue to divide and replicate itself over and over and over again. We more commonly refer to this process as cancer. Even when the sunburn heals, if just one cell has DNA that has been mutated to cause it to reproduce uncontrollably, you could get cancer.

 Your body does have ways of identifying and repairing damaged DNA, but if one really bad mistake is missed, and the cancerous cell begins to duplicate, your body can rarely do anything about it. The reason for this is because cancer is the uncontrolled division of your own cells. 

Your immune system does not recognize cancers a threat because it is not a foreign pathogen that is harming your body, it is your own cells. This means that the immune system almost never identifies cancerous cells as harmful because it just thinks they are a normal part of your own body. And that is why cancer is so dangerous and hard to cure. 

The most common form of cancer associated with sunburn is skin cancer, which can be removed by a doctor pretty easily. However, if the cancerous cells get into the bloodstream and are carried throughout your body via the circulatory system the consequences could be dire. That is why it is always important to take precautions when being out in the sun for long periods of time. 

But don’t worry, we are here to help protection from the sun’s radiation. Let’s start with preventative methods for protecting your body from sunburn. In terms of staying healthy it is always better to prevent something harmful than to treat it after the fact. We all know that when spending long periods of time out in the sun we should wear sunscreen. 

But did you know medical professionals recommend using sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher? This is because a lower SPF provides little to no protection at all, and is not effective in preventing sunburn. Medical professionals also recommend using water-resistant and broad-spectrum sunscreen as well to reduce the risk of it being washed off by water or sweat. 

Also, something we take for granted is the power of shade to protect us from the harmful UV rays of the sun. Wearing clothing that is thick enough that light does not pass through will provide protection from the sun’s radiation as well. But what should you do if you get sunburn? There are a lot of so-called remedies out there, but what do the professionals actually recommend? 

Most agree that there is no silver bullet that will cure all the pain and symptoms of sunburn once it occurs. What they do agree on is that after your skin has been exposed to intense amounts of sunlight, you should immediately begin treating it to reduce the effects of the sunburn. It is recommended that you take cool showers and gently pat yourself dry to avoid irritation. 

Make sure to use moisturizer that contains aloe Vera, and for more intense sunburns apply hydrocortisone. Both of these products reduce pain and irritation. Also, aspirin or ibuprofen may be used to help block pain receptors and reduce swelling of the burn. A key thing to remember when you get a sunburns to drink lots of water. 

What Actually Happens When You Get a Sunburn

 When sunburnt you lose water as the liquid in your body is drawn to the skin's surface to help with the repair process of the damaged cells. This means water is not circulating through the rest of the body at the levels it should. When this happens it can lead to dehydration, which can cause all sorts of other problems within your body. 

Sunburn is preventable, but we are all human, and bound to get too much sun at some point in our lives. Just remember that a sunburn is caused by radiation, and along with being uncomfortable, it can be harmful or even deadly in some circumstances. When you get sunburn, radiation from the sun is literally destroying the cells that make up your body. 

And although your body is really good at repairing itself, if the radiation causes a change in your DNA that is missed by your repair mechanisms it could lead to cancer. So do yourself a favor and put on sunscreen next time you plan to spend the day out in the sun. Now check out “How to Stop Any Pain in Minutes.” Or watch “How Long Would We Have to Live if the Sun Went Out?”