# Why does sunburned skin feel hot to someone else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419 "2005-03-20T13:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spotmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spotmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spotmaker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/1 "2005-03-20T13:57:11Z")
My wife and I painted a wall outside yesterday and managed to fricassee ourselves pretty good. Not to the point of blistering, but let’s just say I’m a walking etymology for the term “redneck.” When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the burned areas of her skin feel hot to the touch. After 18 odd hours, I have to believe the actual heat absorbed from the sun has dissipated. So what causes the burned area to be hot to the touch? Does the skin’s healing process give off heat? I tried google, and found lots of sites that list this is a symptom, but none with an explanation. I thought maybe it’s just an illusion, despite all the medical sites that note it. So I tried to do a blind test, and closed my eyes while I had my wife move my hand to burned and unburned patches of her skin. Results were inconclusive: I couldn’t really feel the difference after all. But this was a couple of hours later, and I wasn’t really fooled by the “blind”: I know which parts were burned, and I found it easy to guess where I was touching. So anyone know if this can been measured objectively? And if so, what causes it? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/2 "2005-03-20T14:50:59Z")
In brief, tissue near the surface of the body is damaged, here by sunburn. Blood vessels in this region dilate, the better to carry cells and blood products which fight infection and repair damage. The vascular bed in this region becomes leaky, allowing the aforementioned substances to leave the bloodstream and enter the tissue bed. Net result: increased perfusion of the damaged area, bringing warmer, core-temperature blood and other substances to an area that’s generlly otherwise cooler than the rest of the body. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/3 "2005-03-20T16:46:15Z")
I’ve got a painful hangnail happening on my left thumb, and have noticed it’s significantly warmer than the surrounding area – same deal? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/4 "2005-03-20T17:00:17Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’ve got a painful hangnail happening on my left thumb, and have noticed it’s significantly warmer than the surrounding area – same deal? [irony]No, hangnails are fundamentally different. Here it involves nuclear fusion properties. The hydrogen atoms slam against each other, and fuse into Helium atoms, with the loss of mass and corresponding release of energy. While this is healing, please notify your local Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[/irony] Yes, it’s the same deal. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/5 "2005-03-20T21:25:03Z")
Okay, not the smartest question I’ve ever asked, I’ll admit it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/6 "2005-03-20T21:44:01Z")
Twickster, what IS the smartest question you’ve ever asked? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/7 "2005-03-20T21:49:57Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay, not the smartest question I’ve ever asked, I’ll admit it. :rolleyes: Sorry, I should have included a smilie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/8 "2005-03-20T22:08:44Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > [irony]No, hangnails are fundamentally different. Here it involves nuclear fusion properties. The hydrogen atoms slam against each other, and fuse into Helium atoms, with the loss of mass and corresponding release of energy. While this is healing, please notify your local Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[/irony] > > Yes, it’s the same deal. You gotta admit, that’d be pretty cool. We could get power cheaply and cleanly just by putting the unemployed to work as power generators by giving them all hangnails and hooking them into the grid somehow. Hey, they used the same principle in _The Matrix_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/9 "2005-03-21T00:46:56Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Twickster, what IS the smartest question you’ve ever asked? Oh god, I don’t know, probably some esoteric hypothetical scenario in sociological theory when I was a grad student. I peaked a _long_ time ago. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/10 "2005-03-21T03:10:56Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > [irony]No, hangnails are fundamentally different. Here it involves nuclear fusion properties. The hydrogen atoms slam against each other, and fuse into Helium atoms, with the loss of mass and corresponding release of energy. While this is healing, please notify your local Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[/irony] Really? Cool! I’m going to have to patent this and… Oh…my browser didn’t parse the [irony] tags…shoot…and I thought I was going to announce slightly-more-that-room-temperature fusion to the world. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/11 "2005-03-21T18:58:19Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > [irony]No, hangnails are fundamentally different. Here it involves nuclear fusion properties. The hydrogen atoms slam against each other, and fuse into Helium atoms, with the loss of mass and corresponding release of energy. While this is healing, please notify your local Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[/irony] :dubious: Wouldn’t this be _sarcasm_, not irony? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/12 "2005-03-21T18:59:40Z")
I’ve always felt that if we could somehow harness the energy of human flatulence, we could tell the Saudi’s to kiss our ass. 1. Harness Fart Power 2. ??? 3.Profit ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/13 "2005-03-21T19:17:35Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > :dubious: Wouldn’t this be _sarcasm_, not irony? > > 😃 Only if you cure it in a hyperbolic chamber first. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-sunburned-skin-feel-hot-to-someone-else/295419/14 "2005-03-21T20:35:07Z")
> [@spotmaker](#): > > So I … closed my eyes while I had my wife move my hand… I found it easy to guess where I was touching. Geee, I do that too sometimes… … … … but not when we’re both sunburned 🙂