Archive for May, 2010
Living in freezing temperatures 75% of the year gives us Canadians every incentive and zero barriers to rip off our clothing and bask in the dangerous sun when we get even a glimpse of the warm rays.
Have you ever wondered why you feel amazing while in the sun, but five hours later you get that infamous tight, red, itchy, painful, lobster-esque feeling? Sunburns for the most part happen because the layers of your skin are still very hot (even outside of the sun). The heat on the surface of your skin then goes and penetrates deeper and deeper into your epidermis (first-layer) and sometimes even dermis (second-layer) causing blistering.
Steps for treatment:
1. Put out the fire! Immediately put a cold, wet source onto your inflamed skin. This can be as easy as damping a towel and applying it to the parts of your body that feel hot. Continue for at least 15 minutes, pain may not occur right away.
2. One (tried tested, and true) technique that burn treatment centers use is egg whites placed onto the sunburnt skin. The protein in egg-whites speed up the healing process, as well as soothes dry, burned flesh. Place a couple egg-whites on the affected skin, let it dry and repeat until the burning sensation goes away.
3. Never place butter or Vaseline on your skin immediately out of the sun. Your grandmother was most likely the culprit to introduce this incorrect technique. These two substances in particular insulates the burn, causing it to go deeper into your skin.
4. Make sure to cover the burn with a clean, sterile dressing. Burns, especially the blistering type are very prone to infections and need to be cleaned with soap and water until healed.
The sad truth-of-the-matter is that sun tanning, and sunburns (particularly in children) is a precursor to skin-cancer. Many Canadians have light skin and are not dealt the right cards to handle much sun-exposure.
Moral of the story: Cover up, stay out of the brightest hours of the day (10am-3pm), and lather up with sunscreen when outdoors to protect your delicate skin!
