I had a painful reaction after eating a fishing - that's how it could happen to you

One morning at the producer market has turned into a lesson learned from the hard.


Last weekend could not have started better: early Saturday morning, I met friends for a long race, excited to stretch my legs and chat on the kilometers under theHot summer sun. We did exactly that, laughing and sweating over eight miles and finding ourselves in the city center, right next to a market of producers overflowing with heritage tomatoes, sweet corn, fresh flowers and ripe peaches. My friends came home after hugs of celebration and selfies, but I decided to buy flowers (because I deserved them, of course) and I could not resist picking up tomatoes and peaches too.

Juggling with my phone, my flowers and my fruits - because of course, I hadn't thought of bringing a bag on my race - I am bitten in a fishing and the juice flowed on my arm, quickly transforming myself into a mess of sin. I wiped my hands on my running shorts and I perched on hot stone steps nearby, pushing my sticky phone in the pocket of my shorts and stretching me like a happy cat in the sun.

Read the rest to discover the painful surprise for which I was when I finally supported an hour later, and how to prevent it from arriving.

Read this then:If you are over 65, never do these 4 things with a hot day, CDC says.

Some fruits and vegetables contain compounds called furocoumarins.

a bowl of different fruit that could give you photophytodermatitis
Africa Studio / Shutterstock

Furocoumarins (please do not ask me how to pronounce it) are "a class of photoactive compounds found in several plant species", according to a 2017 article published in theJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistrywhich aimed to identify and quantifyThe presence of furocoumarins in certain popular foods.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

While the authors noted that "no complete database of the Furocoumarine content of food is currently available", they found that parsley, grapefruits and files contained the highest Furocoumarin concentration of products that 'They tested. After my painful experience, I supposed that fisheries also contain furocoumarins, although I have not found any information specifically on peaches and furocoumarins, even when I contacted dermatologists to obtain answers.

When the furocoumarins interact with the sun's rays, this can cause a painful reaction.

Thermometer Sun 40 Degres. Hot summer day. High Summer temperatures
istock

"Phytophotodermatite is an inflammatory skin reaction which results from a combination of UVA radiation with long waves and botanical substances called Furocoumarins", explainsMatthew Zarraga, Do, chief dermatologist and CEO toZ-ROC dermatology in Fort Lauderdale, in Florida. "Once the psorans, the particle active in the furocoumarins, interacts with UVA, the reaction follows then."

In my case, this reaction was a fine and extremely painful inflated eruption, extremely exposed to the direct sun for the length of several songs on my favorite spotify playlist.

These things can worsen phytophotodermatitis.

Sweaty woman sitting and resting in the sun after workout risking phytophotodermatitis
Jacoblund / Istock

It turns out that I did all the good things if I was trying to give me the worst possible case of phytophotodermatite. "Furocoumarins seated on the skin can then activate by UVA light, causing a reaction generally 24 hours later which often resembles a burn", "Jaimie Derosa, MD, plastic surgeon and founder ofDEROSA Center Plastic surgery and SPA Med, said. ""This reaction can be even more intense if this skin is also wet with water or sweat and heat. ""

In other words, my sweaty skin and the hot stone steps on which I was seated created the perfect conditions for a painful reaction to fishing juice by soaking in my leg while I appreciated the sun of the end of summer (and yes, before asking - Iwore a sunscreen!).

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Phytophotodermatitis generally resolves by itself.

Two Ibuprofen pills spilling out of bottle.
Johnrob / Istock

Uncertain what had happened to me (he briefly crossed my mind that the universe could punish meMy dependence on the phone By marking its shape in my leg), I gathered my market of producers and drink towards the metro, my thigh absolutely on fire. On the way, I saw a man watering the sidewalk in front of his building and I asked him if he would please my leg. I am often grateful that New Yorkers have seen and heard all of this and do not beat an eye when a foreigner approaches them with a bizarre demand, and that was one of those moments. This explosion of cold water has sufficiently attenuated my pain so that I can go home and take off my shorts gently to inspect the damage.

"Phytophotodermatitis is a self-limiting disorder and resolves alone," said Zarraga. "The treatment aims for symptomatic relief with fresh and humid compresses, topical steroids and NSAIDs [like aspirin and ibuprofen]. If more than 30% of the body is involved, the patient should be transported to a unit of burn."

Here's how to prevent it from getting to you.

Young woman with the peach near the sea
South_agency / Istock

My reaction, although painful, was not serious - a battery of less than 30% of my body was involved - and although it took a few days, a combination of Advil papaw and Lucas (myGo-to remedy For almost any misfortune to the skin) did the trick, and now six days later, only the slightest pink outline of my phone remains. However, phytophotodermatitis (which is sometimes called "Margarita burns" because it can happen when people tighten limes for Margaritas in the summer sun)Can be quite serious.

"Anyone can develop a phytophotodermatite," explains Derosa. "To avoid [avoiding exposure to the sun of the skin if you are likely to come into contact with the fruits and the sap of the plant. You also want to be sure to wash your skin with soap and the 'Water each time you enter into contact with plants it can cause a phytophotodermatitis, such as files, celery and carrots, as well as wild herbs. Use UVA sundariaries and cover your skin to prevent a New exposure to light, as this can decrease the severity of the reaction. "

If all this suggests that the furocoumarins are the enemy, think again. "A neat factor is that these furocoumarins found in plants are a natural defense that the plant uses against its predators, like insects," explains Derosa. Or, in the case of this fishing,me. (It was delicious, however - not regrets.)


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