Anatomy of a Sunburn: A Timeline of Dermatological Destruction
If you've been badly sunburned, you know the steps: You turn
red, you feel hot and swollen, and if your burn was deep, you
eventually peel as you heal. But what's happening at the
microscopic scale to make all these things happen? We walk you
through the mechanics of getting burned, and the long recovery.
By Adam Hadhazy  sean drellinger/flickr Back Next  Step 4: Like
a Blister in the Sun  In extreme sunburns, cells in the
underlying dermis can be damaged as well, resulting in a second-
degree burn and blistering. "You wipe enough [cells] out, you
get blistering, and fluid actually leaks outside of cells,"
Rigel says.  The purpose of this blistering is to create a soft,
liquid, protective bubble so the wounded dermal tissue
underneath can heal. The fluid is made of the clear part of our
blood called the plasma, and it collects between the two skin
layers. "Blisters are basically a separation of the dermis and
epidermis," Rigel says.  Blisters can