Why does sunburn hurt?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: UV damages skin cells
UV damages skin cells ✓ — Correct! UV radiation damages DNA in skin cells, triggering inflammation. Your body sends blood to repair damage, causing redness, heat, and pain. Severe sunburn kills skin cells, causing peeling. Always use sunscreen!
Sun dries out the skin — Wrong. Sunburn isn't about dryness. It's radiation damage at the cellular level that causes inflammation.
Heat burns like fire — Wrong. Sunburn isn't a heat burn—you can get sunburned on cold, cloudy days. UV radiation causes the damage.
More Health & Medicine questions
- Why does chronic disease accelerate aging unevenly across different biological systems?
- Why do water-resistant sunscreens list 40 or 80 minutes, not 'waterproof'?
- Why doesn't SPF makeup count as one-and-done sun armor?
- Why can using too little sunscreen make the label SPF unreliable?
- SPF tests sunburn, and water-resistant tests wet use. What closes the UVA gap?
- Why can't SPF 15 simply mean '15 hours before you burn'?