Solar dermatitis (photodermatosis)

Most of us love the sun. However, the skin of some people can be very sensitive to sunlight, especially in spring and summer. Most often, sunny dermatitis occurs in people with fair skin.

Symptoms of solar dermatitis

Photodermatosis manifests itself in the form of small reddish blisters or spots of large size in those places where the rays hit the skin. Typically, these skin lesions occur after a few seconds or minutes after exposure to the sun.

Most of the disease occurs in children and women, but men are also affected. Sunny dermatitis usually occurs in the spring and persists until late summer. In most cases, the ailment ceases to disturb people when they reach 40 or 50 years, but this is not necessary.

What can I do to prevent sun dermatitis?

The surest way to prevent photodermatosis is to avoid sunlight at the time of its greatest activity (from 10-11 to 16-17 hours). It's important to stay in the shade and wear caps or baseball caps, sunglasses and outerwear that does not miss the sun's rays.

It is very insulting to return from the beach not with a beautiful tan, but with a rash on the skin. Unfortunately, medicine is not able to accurately answer why some of us have such sensitive skin. Therefore, the correct ways of how to treat sunny dermatitis thoroughly, has not yet been found. However, there are various creams that can protect the skin from sunlight.

It is necessary to choose such means, in which the high sunscreen factor SPF (abbreviation of the English sun protection factor). The value of SPF shows how much the cream is able to effectively resist the ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun. For example, a tool with an SPF of 10 means, theoretically, that the person who used it can be 10 times as long in the sun, without the risk of earning sunny dermatitis (photo left).

Thus, people who develop a disease within 10 minutes may be exposed to direct sunlight for 100 minutes. Some experts recommend people suffering from photodermatosis, start with the use of sunscreens with an SPF of 15 to 25.

Before taking any actions aimed at combating photodermatosis, one should consult a doctor. Frequent manifestation of this disease can contribute to the development of skin cancer, which is very serious. In addition, photodermatosis leads to premature aging.

Diseases similar to sun dermatitis

Some people experience symptoms similar to those that occur with photodermatosis. Solar dermatitis is somewhat reminiscent of photosensitivity.

Photosensitivity manifests itself at a time when the sun's rays falling on the skin begin to react with certain chemical elements. For example, many people have this ailment after using cosmetics or perfume.

Solar dermatitis is also confused with photo allergy. It also manifests itself a few minutes after the ultraviolet rays hit the skin and spread even to areas where sunlight did not reach.