"A night in hospital and a trip to the burns unit later”: Concerned mum's warning against popular fruit
Warning: This article contains images that some readers may find distressing.
A mother has taken to the internet and shared photos of her son’s severe burns that came as a result of him playing with a popular fruit. “A night in hospital and a trip to the burns unit later.” She began in her Facebook post.
Her son Otis was playing happily outside with a lime in the sunshine, but the next day horror ensued.
“It wasn’t until the next day that we noticed a rash appeared.” The mother said.
The parents had assumed the rash must’ve been an allergic reaction to the lime juice, however, the rash quickly developed into a “horrific burn,” she added.
The parents took Otis to the hospital where they were informed their son was suffering from a condition called phytophotodermatitis.
Phytophotodermatitis, more commonly known as margarita burn, is a little-known condition which causes burns to the skin when a chemical called furocoumarin reacts to sunlight.
The chemical is found in limes, citrus fruit and some plants.
“The small lime he had been innocently playing with - had now burnt his skin horrifically!“ The mum said. “If our story can help raise awareness into phytophotodermatitis at least something good has come out of our horrific experience!”
The woman has urged parents to be on the lookout for this little-known skin condition.
To minimise the risks of phytophotodermatitis, Healthline suggests washing hands and other exposed parts of the skin immediately after being outdoors, wearing gloves when gardening, putting on sunscreen before going outdoors and wearing long-sleeved tops and pants in wooded areas.
Photo credit: Getty