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Windburn

Sunburn obtained in cloudy conditions

Sunburn obtained in cloudy conditions

Windburn is a condition whereby a sunburn obtained in cool or cloudy conditions is incorrectly attributed to the effects of the wind rather than the sun, mostly in North America. The main reason is that in cool or cloudy conditions many people are unaware that they are still vulnerable to the burning effects of the sun's UV radiation, so fail to take precautionary sun protection measures.

The fact that windburn was really misattributed sunburn, rather than a distinct condition, was shown as early as 1936 by English skin specialist Charles Howard White of Cambridge and American physicist William Henry Crew of New York University. Nonetheless, the accepted existence of windburn remains a widely held misconception.

Prevention and treatment

The treatment of windburn is the same as for sunburn. Prevention measures involve wearing protective clothing, sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, and seeking shade.

Wind as a contributing factor

There may be contributing factors of the wind to windburn, and similarly, sunburns. Most importantly, the cooling effects of the wind decrease the perception of heat and burning, meaning individuals are less likely to seek shade or to protect themselves against the sun, and are more likely to stay exposed to the burning effects of the sun's UV radiation for longer.

References

References

  1. "10 myths about sun protection". [[Cancer Council Australia]].
  2. (7 October 2009). "Sun safety in the workplace". [[Government of Western Australia]].
  3. Beckman, Wayde. (8 February 2011). "Myth-busting Windburn". [[Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited]].
  4. Hall, Mike. (2 October 2012). "'Windburn' myth highlights need for sun safety message". [[MediaWorks New Zealand]].
  5. (12 October 1936). "Medicine: Windburn to Sunburn". [[Time Inc.]].
  6. (2 October 1936). "Sunburn and Windburn". Science.
  7. "Windburn". [[IAC (company).
  8. "What is Windburn?". Conjecture Corporation.
  9. Sugar, Je9nny. (15 January 2008). "Prevent and Treat Windburn". [[PopSugar.
  10. Barrymore, John. "Windburn overview". [[Discovery Communications]].
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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