Sunburn - How Can You Protect Yourself?

One of the symptoms of sunburn is fever. The primary symptom of sunburn is redness of the affected area and varying degrees of pain. There are other symptoms too and that includes itching, rashes, peeling skin, nausea, fever and chills.

Whether or not you will get sunburnt depends upon your skin type, intensity of the sun rays and duration of exposure to the sun. If you have sensitive skin then you are more prone to getting sunburnt than not. Sun rays in the afternoon is more intense than it is during the morning, a short time under the afternoon sun can give you a sunburn. Being exposed to the sun for prolonged hours, example when we are in the beach, can lead to severe sunburn.

We tend to think that exposure to the sun early in the morning and just before dusk is risk free as the intensity of the sun is not that intense during those times. It is true that the sun rays are not that intense during those times but UVB rays (responsible for sunburn) are a chief component of sun rays and are present at all times whether its morning, afternoon or just before sun down. Dark complexioned people have more melanin in their skin than fair complexioned people and melanin does protect from sun rays but it is not enough to prevent sunburn.

This is one the myths regarding the use of sunscreen. Vitamin D is a vital component that our body needs and it is collected from UV rays of the sun. So, theoretically, if we always apply sunscreen( it blocks UV rays) before going out then we won t be able to absorb Vitamin D at all. In reality, sunlight is strong and can penetrate even our clothing and more so sunscreen. Sunscreen merely reduces the intensity of UV rays.