insideKENT Magazine Issue 39 - June 2015 | Page 93

HEALTH+WELLNESS TAKE CARE IN THE SUN all you need to know about sunburn BY LISAMARIE LAMB We all know what it’s like – the first few rays of actual hot-enough-to-sunbathe sun and we go a little bit warm-weather loopy. Getting the right amount of sun is good for us in part, as our bodies can absorb the vitamin D it produces, giving us healthy bones and teeth. Brilliant! But too much sun is definitely not a good idea, and the health implications it can bring with it can be devastating. The most obvious – and immediate – result of too much hot sun is sunburn. It can happen quickly – so fast in fact that it often isn’t noticed until much later, when someone points out the pinkness (or bright redness) of our skin, or when we get into the shower or bath and realise that the hot water is actually hurting our sensitive skin. One moment you could be safely enjoying the sunshine, and the next you could be in some incredibly intense pain. Factors such as a cool breeze or dipping in and out of the sea, a pool, or evening paddling in the garden can all trick us into not realising quite what is happening – until it is too late. Sunburn is caused by the ultraviolet (UV) rays coming from the sun. It is, in other words, a form of radiation burn, and it affects us differently, depending on our skin tone, where on our bodies we have been burned (our feet, for example, fare badly when it comes to burning, but our faces – because they are usually exposed to Mother Nature – won’t burn quite so much). The main symptoms include red skin that is sensitive and hot to the touch. It can also be itchy, and this is caused by the skin cont