Sunburn

What is it?

Sunburn is when your skin is injured by ultraviolet (UV) light, and causes a burn. The sun and tanning beds are sources of UV light. If your skin is light or fair in color you can get sunburn easier. Even people with darker colored skin can get sunburned. Depending on how bad your sunburn is it usually takes from 3 days to 3 weeks to get better. Being in the sun too much can cause early aging of the skin (wrinkles and brown spots). Getting sunburned over and over again can increase your risk of getting skin cancer.

Causes:

Sunburn is caused by being in the sun or under a sun lamp too long. Midday sun is the most damaging. You can even get sunburned on cloudy days. You can also get sunburned from sunlight that shines off snow, water, sand, or bright clothing. Some medicines can cause you to sunburn faster or to get sick from too much sun.

Signs and Symptoms:

Sunburn may make your skin reddened and hot to the touch. Badly sunburned skin may swell or blister. You may also have chills, fever, headache, and feel dizzy. If you have a bad sunburn, you may get an upset stomach, vomit (throw up) and be dehydrated (very thirsty). If your eyes were not protected with sunglasses that block UV light, they may be itchy and hurt.

Care:

Sunburn shows up 1 to 6 hours after being in the sun. It may worsen in the next 24 hours. Get out of the sun or go inside right away. Gently put cool wet towels on the burn or take a cool water bath. Gently put cold cream or baby lotion on the skin. Drink 6 to 8 (soda-pop can size) glasses of fluid like water or fruit juice each day. You may need medicine to lessen the pain, swelling, or fever caused by the burn. You can buy acetaminophen (uh-c-tuh-min-o-fin) or ibuprofen (i-bew-pro-fin) at a drug store. As the sunburn heals, you skin may peel. Do the following to keep from getting sunburned.

If you burn easily, wear loose thin shirts with sleeves, pants or shorts, a hat, and shoes.

Try to stay out of the sun between 10am and 3 p.m.

Use sunscreen or sun block with a sun-protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more. Put it on your skin 30 minutes before you go outside. Put more on every two hours when you are out in the sun. If you are swimming, put more on each time you get out of the water.

Wear sunglasses that protect against "UV" (ultraviolet light).