Many students on Saturday went to the game and if the score wasn’t miserable enough the weather decided to add insult to injury (literally) and gave many people some pretty wicked sunburns. Now we all understand how sunburns work, if you are exposed to long outside to the sun your skin will develop a red tone and be very sensitive to the tough. I decided to do a bit of research though and go a bit more in depth as to what exactly is occurring in your skin while the game disappoints you.

The basic issue at hand is absorption of far to much Ultraviolet exposure. The body’s response to it is to dilate the blood vessels, which causes a loss of moisture in your skin; this causes the tightness many people often feel when they know sunburn is coming on. Some people may feel itchy in the areas being exposed and rub the areas periodically as the burn intensifies. Your body will try to defend itself against the rays by developing melanin. For those of you who enjoy tanning (which is also very damaging to the skin) you may be familiar with this term. Melanin is the pigment that is produced when your body tans. But when a person is exposed to more sunlight then the body can produce melanin to compensate for that’s when the threshold is passed and the skin becomes burned. Some people may claim to develop a tan after receiving a burn and this is possible but obviously not advisable.

Now that the damage has been done its time to treat the burn. Everyone has heard that Aloe Vera is the best treatment for a burn, but why is this true? It turns out that the use of Aloe Vera in medicine can be dated back to the ancient Egyptians where it was regarded as the immortality plant. It makes sense considering how strong the sun is in Egypt that a burn ointment was considered a gift from the gods. The plant is full of anti-inflammatory compounds which can be found in the clear gel is secretes when cut open. When applied to the burn this gel is very quickly absorbed and gets to work reducing swelling and redness allegedly. However there aren’t actually very many studies supporting the idea of Aloe Vera actually treating the burns. Instead majority of doctors agree that while it does reduce pain we cant say for sure that it speeds up the healing process by a very measurable degree. So the actually of the plant is that its main power lies in its pain relieving qualities.

There are only a few ways to definitely speed up the healing of sunburns. The first thing you should do is take a cold bath, shower, and apply a cold compress to the area. This is the standard practice for treating regular burns so it makes sense that it works in mild skin burns. Next is the keep yourself hydrated as a sunburn greatly decreases the moisture in your body and you need to replenish it to allow your body to heal quickly. Lastly and most important is to stay out of the sun until your skin is no longer sensitive. So unfortunately despite some creams advertisements there is no overnight cure for a sunburn. The only option you have really is to be proactive about them and remember your sunblock next time.

http://www.dermalogica.com/what-is-a-sunburn%3F/ys_skinaging_4,default,pg.html

http://healing.answers.com/remedies/the-beneficial-impact-of-using-aloe-vera-for-sunburn

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/aloevera