Sun Allergies or Photosensitivity

Filed in archive Living with Allergies , Skin Allergies , Skin Allergies , Sun Allergies on April 24, 2006

Spring has come and it seems that not only is this a season for allergies for those who suffer from hay fever but also for those who have sun allergy.

What is sun allergy?

A quick look at Wikipedia and Answers.com says that xeroderma pigmentosum is a genetic disease characterized by the inability of an individual to repair damage brought about by UV radiation, making them hypersensitive to sun exposure. Seems to be a different condition to that referred to at InteliHealth, though, which sounds more like the real sun allergy, with symptoms showing up as a result of immune reactions.

According to the article, sun allergies may be classified according to different types:

• Polymorphous light eruption (PMLE) - PMLE, which usually appears as an itchy rash on sun-exposed skin, is the second most common sun-related skin problem seen by doctors, after common sunburn. It occurs in an estimated 10% to 15% of the U.S. population, affecting people of all races and ethnic backgrounds.
  
  In temperate climates, PMLE is usually rare in the winter, but common during the spring and summer months. In many cases, the PMLE rash returns every spring, immediately after the person begins spending more time outside. As spring turns into summer, repeated sun exposure may cause the person to become less sensitive to sunlight, and the PMLE rash either may disappear totally or gradually become less severe. Although the effects of this desensitization process, called "hardening," usually last through the end of the summer, the PMLE rash often returns at full intensity the following spring.


• Actinic prurigo (hereditary PMLE) - This inherited form of PMLE occurs in people of American Indian background, including the American Indian populations of North, South and Central America. Its symptoms are usually more intense than those of classic PMLE, and they often begin earlier, during childhood or adolescence. Several generations of the same family may have a history of the problem.


• Photoallergic eruption - In this form of sun allergy, a skin reaction is triggered by the effect of sunlight on a chemical that has been applied to the skin (often an ingredient in sunscreen, fragrances, cosmetics or antibiotic ointments) or ingested in a drug (often a prescription medicine). Common prescription medicines that can cause a photoallergic eruption include antibiotics (especially tetracyclines and sulfonamides), phenothiazines used to treat psychiatric illness, diuretics for high blood pressure and heart failure, and certain oral contraceptives. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also has linked some cases of photoallergic reaction to the nonprescription pain relievers ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve, Naprosyn and others).


• Solar urticaria- This form of sun allergy produces hives (large, itchy, red bumps) on sun-exposed skin.

Thank heavens I don't suffer from this type of allergy. I can just imagine the emotional toll this can have on people suffering from this condition. Obviously, you have to avoid sunshine, and that's a big thing to ask, after the gloom of winter and all.

To know more about sun allergies, see this page from InteliHealth: Sun Allergy (Photosensitivity)