This Summer: Watch Out for Margarita Rash

I grew up eating lemons and limes with salt as a snack. Learned it from my Grandma. NEVER HAD SCURVY!

I grew up on the coast, and every summer or two I would get this crazy blister rash around my mouth and on my hands. Huge grey blisters. For a while my parents thought I had a shellfish allergy. Doctors didn't know what it was. It eventually stopped happening and we just passed it off as a childhood, environmental reaction.

Wasn't until I was adult that I found out what it really is.

quote:

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A margarita rash, or phytophotodermatitis, is a painful, blistering skin reaction caused by lime juice (or other citrus/plants) reacting with sunlight (UV-A rays). Symptoms appear 24–48 hours later, often leaving dark, streaky, or patchy hyperpigmentation that can last weeks. Key actions: Wash skin immediately after contact, use sunscreen, and seek medical attention for severe blisters

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So if you go and take your children to the beach this summer and they get an unexplained, painful set of blisters. It's the lime juice reacting to the Sun.

It's crazy and painful. The pattern of blisters will follow the lines where juice will drip.

Most doctors -- outside of a dermatologists -- won't know what it is. Treatment is simple...hydrocortisone, benadryl and time out of the sun. But if your kids are around citrus juice, make them wash their hands and face with soap and water before going outside.