: Why does a sunburn continue to burn and develop after you’ve gone inside?
In: Biology
For the same reason that if you burn your hand on a hot stove the pain continues after you are no longer touching the hot stove.
Your body has been damaged by exposure to the sun and that damage persists even if you are not directly exposed to the sun.
The Sun and specifically UV cause thymine-thymine dimers in your DNA right away with exposure. What occurs next is rapid repair of the DNA and inflammation.
(when DNA repair fails, this can lead to skin cancer)
The damage from the sunburn is already done, but why it seems to get worse is due to the healing process and your body’s response.
When your cells get exposed to radiation, they have two options: repair themselves or die. A sunburn is actually your cells committing suicide rather than risking splitting during mitosis and creating cancer cells.
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