My Mom and Sunscreen Lotion
by Jemmer Pablo
(San Jose, CA, USA)
My mother soon found out that she is allergic to the sun but only when she uses sunscreen.
We thought at first that she is allergic to a certain brand or just simply to any sunscreen lotion.
But according to her doctor, it is the chemicals in the sunscreen that trigger her “Photo allergic eruption”. One that is rare to some people who have sun allergy.
Normally, with sun allergy patients, only a few minutes of exposure to sunlight will cause their skin to itch or get rashes and blisters.
My mother’s case is different. She can be exposed to sunlight and does not get any allergic reaction except when she applies a sunscreen.
So from then on, she never uses any sunscreen lotion. But then if she stays in the sun during beach days, she still gets sunburn from time to time but we thought that’s just normal.
It’s a good thing she’s not into getting tanned as she is dark-skinned already herself.
