A strange reason for the burn.
Lime (Photo: Nimrod Saunders)
Eight-year-old Otis Kerr squeezed a lime picked from a tree outside the family's home in Ocean Shores, north of Byron Bay in Australia last Saturday.
A few days later he was already in hospital with large blisters on his arms.
The reason - a burn known as "margarita burns" (in the medical language phytophotodermatitis) that occurs when a chemical found in certain fruits meets UV rays.
His mother Catherine Kerr told ABC Australia she had never heard of the potential for a severe skin reaction if the juice was exposed to sunlight.
"It wasn't something that happened right away," she said.
"It was a progressive effect over several days."
Otis was first taken to the hospital, where medical staff diagnosed contact dermatitis.
"They asked me if he had contact with anything unusual, and I just didn't think to say lemons," Ms. Kerr said.
"I felt quite stupid for not connecting the things."
Otis returned home, but when the blisters continued to spread he was taken to Byron Central Hospital.
"There was a nurse there who had seen a similar case, I think a week before, and she could tell right away that it was what are called margarita burns," Ms. Kerr said.
"I just had no idea that lemon juice and exposure to sunlight could do something like that."
There is a burn on her name.
Margarita (Photo: ShutterStock)
Hospital dermatologist Dr. Herbert-Chan said margarita burns occurred when a chemical found in certain fruits and vegetables reacted with sunlight. "Lime contains chemicals called furocoumarins, which when exposed to UV - especially UV-A — will damage the skin," he said. "So people can be exposed to Lyme indoors and they won't have a reaction, but if they go outside they'll develop a phototoxic reaction."
Dr. Herbert-Chan said he's seen patients show up at the hospital with the same condition caused By homemade bleach using citrus.
"It can be a very painful situation," he said.
"Blisters begin to form quite quickly, within minutes of exposure to radiation, but the maximum number of blisters takes about two days."
Dr. Herbert-Chan said furocoumarins have been found in a variety of fruits and vegetables including limes, celery and figs. He said the painful reaction can be prevented by washing hands after exposure to the chemicals.
Ms Kerr said her son was expected to make a full recovery within the next few weeks.
"He's handling it really well, I think he's most upset about missing his swimming carnival," she said.
"But he was obviously in a lot of pain when we had to spend the night in the hospital. "I just really want to let other parents know to be careful when their kids play with Lyme."
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lemon
Lyme
Burns
Margarita