** 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…
I am sorry that you have a case of solar dermatitis- and so many blisters. You must have been suffering terribly, but I hope hat it is getting better more quickly than anticipated. I am lucky never to have suffered from this, but my daughter-in-law has lupus and has to be careful in the sun.
Sadly I am all too familiar with it. I had a bad case of it and went to the dermatologist. Luckily he was on his toes and recognized not only that but the other rashes that went along with Lupus and so started my Life With Lupus. But I guess that I am lucky that I am not plagued with recurring episodes like you. I am just so very sorry to know that you are experiencing it. It can make you want to crawl out of your skin. I don’t know if it will help you, but I have found that an ice pack wrapped in a thin piece of cotton helps with the itching. For now…you can join me in moonwalks. 🙂
Hope you are feeling better soon! I think the Victorians had the right idea when very pale skin was all the rage. They probably didn’t age as quickly as we do as well as avoiding things like sun poisoning!
Thank you for explaining Solar dermatitis. I do not think I have heard of this. I am very sorry that you have this and I hope you are feeling better! That is tons of blisters, and it has to be awful when that happens. Thanks for sharing with your readers. I really appreciate when you share.
Thanks Julie. I like to get personal here on the blog so that readers can get to know me and I can get to know them. It is NOT all about pushing products and bull shitting readers with nonsense stuff. This is a lifestyle blog and getting personal is part of it.