Sunburn Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

What Is Sunburn ?

Sunburn, as the name suggest, is a skin condition that occurs due to the hours of exposure to sun. Too much ultraviolet light, either received from natural sources that is sunshine, or through artificial sources, for example sunlamps, is dangerous for the skin. The condition, sunburn is described by painful, red skin. In addition to this, the affected skin would feel hot to your touch.
Normally, sunburn takes some days to resolve completely. For some, it may take more time to fade. Extreme exposure to the sun on frequent basis can raise your chances of other skin damage, plus the risks of developing specific diseases, for example:

Wrinkled or dry skin.
Rough spots.
Dark spots.
Skin cancers.

Simply by protecting your skin against the harmful UV light of the sun, you can prevent it against sunburn and numerous other conditions related to sunburn. However, in case of sunburn, a number of treatments or self-care measures can help pace healing and ease pain.

What Are The Symptoms Of Sunburn ?

Common signs of sunburn are:

Pinkness or redness.
Itching, tenderness or pain.
Swelling.
The affected skin can feel hot or warm to your touch.
Tiny blisters, that can break open and leak fluid.
Fatigue, chills, headache and fever (intense form of sunburn).

After being exposed to the UV rays for hours, the skin can burn. Symptoms often emerge within hours after the exposure. Though, it can take a day for you to determine the actual extent of sunburn. Skin areas, that are uncovered, such as arms, face, bald scalp, ears etc, will suffer more. After few days, the damaged layer of the skin will start to peel. After the peeling is done, the skin might appear to have an irregular color, for the meantime. Intense sunburn can take time to heal, some days, or even more.

What Causes Sunburn ?

Overexposure to UV light is responsible for causing sunburns. Basically, melanin is a pigment responsible for giving color to our skin, hair and eyes. UV light tends to speed up the making of melanin, causing a tan that guard the skin’s deeper layers against the harmful UV rays of the sun. Unfortunately, protection is only to this point. In every individual, the making of melanin is based on genetically. Most individuals fail to make enough melanin that can help guard their skin well. As a result, the harm UV light manages to burn their skin, causing redness, swelling and pain.

How Is Sunburn Diagnosis ?

The physical evaluation of the affected skin is often enough to detect sunburn. Though, the doctor will need details regarding the signs, history of sunburn and UV exposure.

How Is Sunburn Treatment ?

Treatment is not meant to avert damage or heal the skin, though; it can ease discomfort, swelling and pain. In case your condition failed to respond self-care measures, or the sunburn is intense, then the dermatologist can prescribe: