Recently, a baby suffered from severe sunburn, redness, swelling and blisters on both lower limbs caused by soaking in the sun after taking a bath with the leaves of figs and figs for external use. Anxious parents asked for help on Weibo for treatment, which attracted everyone’s attention. Is what [plant solar dermatitis]? Which plants can cause this skin disease? Apart from plants, will drugs cause [solar dermatitis]? In case of solar dermatitis, how should it be properly cared for and treated? Writing this article, I hope I can popularize relevant knowledge for everyone.
What is plant solar dermatitis?
Plant solar dermatitis refers to the body contact with some photosensitive plants, The skin is red, swollen, painful, rash, blisters and other dermatitis symptoms caused by light irradiation of a certain wavelength. It is especially easy to occur in people with allergic constitution. Its occurrence has two necessary conditions: light and photosensitive plants. After eating photosensitive plants or skin contacting the juice of photosensitive plants, dermatitis will not be caused without strong light irradiation. If there is strong light irradiation, photosensitive substances absorbed or adsorbed on the skin will react with sunlight, thus causing redness and swelling of bare skin, rash and sunlight dermatitis.
Which plants are photosensitive?
These plants include coriander, celery, fennel, Toona sinensis, etc. with strong smell. Wild vegetables such as shepherd’s purse, amaranth and gray vegetable are also easy to cause solar dermatitis. In addition to the above vegetables, Some fruits are also photosensitive, Such as lemons and figs. The reason why these vegetables and fruits can cause solar dermatitis is that, Because they all contain the same ingredient-furanocoumarin, Coumarin is a natural photosensitizer, This ingredient itself will not cause damage to the skin, but when exposed to ultraviolet UVA, it will produce photosensitive reaction, which will lead to skin sunburn. This ingredient is also common in citrus essential oils (such as lemon, sweet orange, grapefruit, bergamot, orange, etc.) on the market, so attention should be paid to avoid strong light exposure to the skin when using this kind of essential oil.
In addition to plants, the following drugs can also cause [solar dermatitis]
Common photosensitive drugs include: Sulfonamides ( Such as compound sulfamethoxazole) , thiazide antihypertensive drugs ( e.g. Hydrochlorothiazide) , tetracycline antibiotics ( especially doxycycline) , quinolone antibiotics (such as levofloxacin), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs (especially ketoprofen), phenothiazine antipsychotic drugs (such as chlorpromazine), photosensitive psoralen, antifungal griseofulvin and voriconazole, tretinoin for treating sore, antidepressant botanical drug St. John’s grass, botanical drug psoralen, etc. When taking these photosensitive drugs, If it is only taken once a day, as a pharmacist, I usually recommend patients to use it before going to bed, such as tretinoin. If it is taken many times a day, I will instruct patients to avoid sunlight as much as possible after taking the medicine. When they have to go out, they should pay attention to sun protection, such as wearing long-sleeved clothes, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc.
In case of sunburn, how should it be properly cared for and treated?
Sunburn is usually divided into minor sunburn and severe sunburn. Skin care after minor sunburn is similar to skin care after minor burns and scalds.
The main purpose of treatment is to reduce further thermal damage, and at the same time to carry out corresponding treatment for the symptoms.
First of all, we should avoid continuous exposure to strong light and avoid photosensitive plants and drugs.
Secondly, through the way of cold compress to help skin dissipate heat. Cold compress can be carried out by wrapping crushed ice cubes with towels, 3-4 times a day, each time for 20 minutes, or cold water can be used to soak sunburned parts, but ice cubes cannot be directly ice compress. If cold compress alone cannot effectively relieve swelling and pain, you can choose to take ibuprofen orally within 24-48 hours after sunburn to diminish inflammation and relieve pain, and take it once every 6-8 hours.
Finally, it is recommended to use low-sensitivity emollient oil to prevent further skin damage. For example, avoid further damage to damaged skin caused by clothing friction. At the same time, moisturizing oil can also play a role in moisturizing skin. Remember that low-sensitivity moisturizing oil is usually recommended to be used 24-48 hours after sunburn. If there are blisters, Avoid puncturing the blister site, It can be gently cleaned and topically applied with mupirocin ointment to prevent infection. Twice a day. If you break the blister carelessly, Apply mupirocin ointment after cleaning and disinfection, After that, wrap it with aseptic and breathable gauze, and do not use bandages with viscose, so as not to cause new damage to sensitive skin after sunburn. After sunburn, avoid applying hormone ointment (such as Youzhuoer, etc.) for external use. Although this ointment has the effect of relieving local redness, swelling, itching and pain, it is not conducive to the repair and healing of sunburned skin. Ointment containing camphor or mint (such as mint ointment, etc.) should also be avoided within 24 hours after sunburn. These ingredients may cause irritation to sunburned skin and increase blood flow in sunburned areas, causing swelling and pain to worsen.
It takes time for sunburned skin to repair itself. It takes at least two weeks or so, so as long as you care patiently and carefully, the sunburned skin will heal itself, usually leaving no spots or scars. For severe sunburn that leads to skin bullae or patients show systemic symptoms such as aversion to cold, fever, vomiting, dehydration, etc., be sure to go to the hospital to see a doctor in time.
Author: Ji Lianmei
The article was reprinted by Clove Garden authorized by the author.