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Allergic to the sun?

Here's an interesting article on "solar urticaria," or hives caused by exposure to the sun: http://allergies.about.com/od/urticariahives/a/solarurticaria.htm

It's best to get this checked out by your physician, though, to get a specific diagnosis and ideas on preventive measures you can take.

Hope this helps. Judy

Hi Andia, I have that problem, so do my sisters & my niece & tons of members on the asthma boards. I hate those bumps! They burn, itch & prickle & are really really ugly. The problem is that anything you put on your skin, such as lotion, sunscreen, perfumes, soaps can cause this when you are exposed to the sun, not to mention salt water from swimming in the ocean or sweating. If you do a search on "photosensitivity" you will find some information. Certain meds can also cause the conditions. I always had some problems in the sun when it was really hot, but it was only when I got really responsible about using sunscreen that it got worse. I kept getting stronger & stronger sunscreen, which just made it worse & worse. I was advised to actually use a physical sun block as opposed to sunscreen & make sure I had nothing else on my skin. A couple of people recommended banana boat sunBLOCK, which I bought & finally got brave enough to try. It did improve the situation drastically. Also if I sweat or swim in the saltwater, the quicker I can rinse my skin off, the less likely I am to have big problems. Oh,, I just saw that your bumps usually go away after a few hours! That is great! I wish that mine would do that!

dear andia2000,

don't know if you're talking about the same thing but for years i've been getting what i call "the sun rash" - little pimples that itch like crazy. if you break them open some puss/liquid will come out. i usually get them worse in spots where i was burned in the past and when i go south (i'm from the north). for YEARS i thought this was an allergy to the sun, a rxn to my lotion - who knows what. finally a doctor told me that it's from the sun getting "under" your skin thereby causing these little blisters. i use hydroxychloroquine, prednisone and a steroid cream when going on vacation - you'd be surprised at how well this works. i was also shocked at how many other folks suffered from the same condition and got relief from the above (similar) meds.

hope this helps you out - i know what it's like not to be able to hang in the sun!!!