what is Sun poisoning

 The term sun poisoning don’t actually refer to an exact type of poisoning that one may think but it refers to sun burn more scientifically called Photo dermatitis where the area of skin that are exposed to the Ultra violet radiations of the sunlight are affected showing areas of reddening  rashes causing itching and pain sometimes in sever cases symptoms may include headache nausea and vomiting.

Types of sun poisoning

There are two types of sun poisoning  the first is due to direct skin burn upon exposure to the sunlight and this type always occur to people who have light skin and fair hair those people are more susceptible due to the deficiency of  the melanin pigment secreted into the skin and the hair giving the different color degrees variation among people Melanin represents the main barrier found in the skin that protect the skin from the harmful effect of the ultra violet rays of the sunlight

The other type of sun poisoning is allergic type where the allergic reactions occur due to the exposure to the sunlight but this type usually occur when there is a sensitizing agent  is administered to the susceptible patient either certain types of food or drugs its symptoms is almost like that of a direct sunburn bur the most obvious thing that can distinguish between the two types is that there are areas of swelling skin inducing so much itching

Prophylaxis of sun poisoning

The easiest way to prevent sun burn or sun poisoning in general is to avoid the excessive exposure to the sun light for long time and if its necessary to be in the sun due to work or something else so you can use preparations called sunblock preparations which are creams or lotions that inhibit the harmful effects of the UV rays on the skin

Treatment of sun poisoning

When sun burn occurs first we advice to take a cold bath and apply some soothing preparations topically on the affected skin if the there is headache or pain elsewhere we can use an analgesic anti-pyretic drug like paracetamol.

Then we can make symptomatic treatment  if there are any other symptoms appearing like naisea or vomiting so we can use anti emetic drug If the sun poisoning case is due to allergy so we must investigate the case to know what are the sensitizing agents that cause such allergy and prevent their administration

When we talk about sun poisoning we must mention the albinism syndrome In such syndrome the albino person doesn't  have the gene that turns on the synthesis of melanin pigment at all and so This person is harmed dangerously by the UV radiation and he should take care more than any other one due to the lack of the normal barrier.

Other people who are rarely affected by the harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun are those with dark akin due to the presence of large amount of melanin pigment that prevent the skin completely.