Google Knows More Than my Dermatologist
Or rather, google can give me more info than my dermatologist. But YAY! I'm NOT allergic to the sun! I can go to the beach again now!!!!!!
*throws confetti*
(Oh, if anyone out there is allergic to the sun, I'm really sorry.)
If any of you used to read this blog waaaaay back, I think I posted something once about an annoying allergic reaction to sunlight I couldn't understand, especially given the fact that I was on the swim team once-upon-a-time before people knew about sunscreen and never once so much as burned.
So anyways, fat lot of good my dermatologist was during my icky summer. She never offered any answers....
[cue flashback]
Me: So, what is it?
Her: Could be anything.
Me: Could I be allergic to the sun?
Her: Could be.
Me: Or could it be my sunscreen?
Her: Could be.
Me: Uhhh, I've been using super lotion, hydocortisone, and benadryl to alleviate the allergy. What would you suggest?
Her: You can keep doing that if you want.
What is that supposed to mean?! I stopped going to her real quick. After about the fifth time of unhappy allergic reactions in the past couple months, I think I'd played detective enough with my poor skin to narrow things down. Sunlight or sunscreen alone without the other never did it ~ it was only when I had even the teeniest dose of both at the same time that it'd explode. Another weirdo thing that helped narrow it down was that it also happened indoors if I was sitting in a sunny spot ~ turns out UVB doesn't travel through glass, but UVA does. So anyways, after poring through research papers and studies via google and figuring things out, I now know that I'm prone to chemically-induced photoallergies, specifically to benzophenone-based products. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Yay.
Uhh, oops, I'm not saying go google yourself to health. I'm saying that in case there's anyone else out there who's been shirking from the beach for similar reasons, try a sunscreen like Neutrogena Sensitive with a titanium dioxide base and zero ingredients that end in "benzone." Actually, I think it's safe to say that staying away from benzophenone probably helps regardless of whether or not your skin freaks out from it. Titanium dioxide is apparently so much better for you anyways. It's not chemically-based (whatever that means...sounds like a chemical to me...something about it being physically-based...maybe some of the bio majors out there can explain that one) and it's broad-spectrum (blocks both UVB and UVA). Sorry, this is probably more than you ever needed to know about sunscreen, but it's been my little project the past couple weeks to nail this. Coppertone is evil. Go for the titanium dioxide! Ironically, I think I dealt more damage to my skin this summer just from using sunscreen a couple times than whatever collective sun damage I could've possibly gotten from never using sunscreen the whole rest of my life.
*throws confetti*
(Oh, if anyone out there is allergic to the sun, I'm really sorry.)
If any of you used to read this blog waaaaay back, I think I posted something once about an annoying allergic reaction to sunlight I couldn't understand, especially given the fact that I was on the swim team once-upon-a-time before people knew about sunscreen and never once so much as burned.
So anyways, fat lot of good my dermatologist was during my icky summer. She never offered any answers....
[cue flashback]
Me: So, what is it?
Her: Could be anything.
Me: Could I be allergic to the sun?
Her: Could be.
Me: Or could it be my sunscreen?
Her: Could be.
Me: Uhhh, I've been using super lotion, hydocortisone, and benadryl to alleviate the allergy. What would you suggest?
Her: You can keep doing that if you want.
What is that supposed to mean?! I stopped going to her real quick. After about the fifth time of unhappy allergic reactions in the past couple months, I think I'd played detective enough with my poor skin to narrow things down. Sunlight or sunscreen alone without the other never did it ~ it was only when I had even the teeniest dose of both at the same time that it'd explode. Another weirdo thing that helped narrow it down was that it also happened indoors if I was sitting in a sunny spot ~ turns out UVB doesn't travel through glass, but UVA does. So anyways, after poring through research papers and studies via google and figuring things out, I now know that I'm prone to chemically-induced photoallergies, specifically to benzophenone-based products. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Yay.
Uhh, oops, I'm not saying go google yourself to health. I'm saying that in case there's anyone else out there who's been shirking from the beach for similar reasons, try a sunscreen like Neutrogena Sensitive with a titanium dioxide base and zero ingredients that end in "benzone." Actually, I think it's safe to say that staying away from benzophenone probably helps regardless of whether or not your skin freaks out from it. Titanium dioxide is apparently so much better for you anyways. It's not chemically-based (whatever that means...sounds like a chemical to me...something about it being physically-based...maybe some of the bio majors out there can explain that one) and it's broad-spectrum (blocks both UVB and UVA). Sorry, this is probably more than you ever needed to know about sunscreen, but it's been my little project the past couple weeks to nail this. Coppertone is evil. Go for the titanium dioxide! Ironically, I think I dealt more damage to my skin this summer just from using sunscreen a couple times than whatever collective sun damage I could've possibly gotten from never using sunscreen the whole rest of my life.
posted by eneries at
11:58:00 AM
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