Suffering with Solar Dermatitis

** I am not a doctor and I do NOT pretend to play one on TV or in Movies. I am just sharing my personal experience on this health topic with our readers. Please consult your own medical professionals for guidance and help.

Are any of you familiar with Solar Dermatitis? It is commonly called Sun Poisoning. When you see it, it comes after a person had sun exposure…it can occur within a few minutes of this exposure or within several hours. You can see it with or without a sunburn.

About 10 years ago I started having frequent episodes of sun poisoning every time I spent more than 30 minutes outdoors…even when I would lube up in an expensive sunblock. Over the years, I have limited my sun exposure and at times…just suffered with it when it occurred because I am an outdoorsy type of person, especially a beach lover.

Well…I got struck again! After being exposed to the sun for about 30 minutes walking along the beach (yes, I had my sunblock and floppy hat on)…I immediately busted out with blisters…even in areas that the sun didn’t directly hit my body.

Sigh…I immediately got onto my prescribed steroids and Benadryl for the allergic reaction to the sun. After a week…I just couldn’t take it anymore when the blister count rose past 200. Yes, 200+ itchy and oozing blisters all over my body. I was miserable to say the least!

My problem with the sun is caused by my Porphyria, a rare genetic disease. However, millions of people also have issues with the sun that are not even related to my disease.

For those of you who are sensitive to the sun…apply sunblock or sunscreen at least 30 minutes onto your body before you head out. Reapply it every 2 hours, more frequently than that if you are near water, swimming or sweating. Try to keep your skin covered up by wearing longer shorts, longer length sleeved tees and wear a big floppy hat on your head. You can also purchase a sun umbrella to help keep you shaded while sitting or walking around.

Treatment? Well, I can’t speak for everyone but for me personally, nothing over the counter helps me once I bust out in the blisters. I always have to seek medical treatment and 90% of the time I get IV medications to treat it. About 10% of the time, I take RX medications. I normally get 2 different steroids and numerous doses of IV Benadryl to stop the allergic reaction. It takes me almost 7-10 days to reverse the process and heal up. Sigh…