WWYD: Sunburn is going purple

[cjcouple]

My son went camping with a friend this weekend to the beach. He is very fair skinned (redhead) and while he reapplied sunscreen a lot, his feet got very, very sunburned. The mom let me know last night and immediately used aloe and he went to bed at 10:30.

Today they came straight home and she walked him in and felt terrible. He said he kept putting sunscreen on and at one point had a towel over his feet(on kayak) which is where he likely had the most exposure.

His feet are now swollen, bright red and starting to go purple.

Earlier I did have him soak in a cool foot bath with baking soda and I'm giving him ibuprofen and using aloe.

No fever, no nausea/vomiting, acting ok except not moving much. He's drinking lots of water and now has them elevated with a cool sport towel on them.

thoughts? Just keep doing what I'm doing or do I head to ER with him? Not sure what they can even do.

[skidunks]

My sister had a severe sunburn on her feet once. They blistered and she was not able to wear shoes for a few days. I would keep them elevated, ibuprofen, keep a cool cloth on them. After they blister make sure the blisters stay clean. Maybe call the pediatrician in the am.

[sofamonkey]

In addition to what PP said, I’d call the pediatrician after hours number before jetting tot he ER. But I think I’d call in the morning to make an appointment for sure. Poor guy.

[maudefindlay]

Definitely avoid shoes as able till better.

[cjcouple]

thanks everyone.

Luckily he has no where to be.

Poor kid.

[heygrey]

I got a horrific sunburn from a tanning bed (being a stupid 20 year old at the time), and my legs turned purple. Ultimately, everything was fine, I didn’t seek medical attention, but it is still the worst pain I can remember. I tried to rest and elevate my legs as much as I could, hydrate as much as possible. I would check with the pedi tomorrow, but I wouldn’t go to the ER unless he develops more symptoms.

[nicolewi]

I'm so sorry, I wasn't going to suggest anything more than what you are already doing. My kids got burned in Florida this year and I felt SO HORRIBLE. Does your doctor's office have a nurse line or similar you could call? Any chance his feet are so bad b/c they are also reacting to something else, like something in the aloe gel? I heard, after applying Banana Boat aloe gel to my kids for days, that you really need pure aloe without a lot of alcohol in it or you just might be making things worse.

[Roc A Bee]

When I was severely Sun burned in high school, they laid towels on me soaked in Vinegar. I remember it helped but Google it first.

[sonrisa]

Do you have any solarcaine spray? The lidocaine helps with sunburn pain. I don't find aloe helps much and can irritate a bad sunburn (for me)

[sofamonkey]

Jun 27, 2022 0:13:33 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Do you have any solarcaine spray? The lidocaine helps with sunburn pain. I don't find aloe helps much and can irritate a bad sunburn (for me)

I like the aloe with lidocaine. We keep a bottle in the fridge when we need to use it, so it’s cool.

[basilosaurus]

Jun 27, 2022 0:19:45 GMT -5 sofamonkey said:

I like the aloe with lidocaine. We keep a bottle in the fridge when we need to use it, so it’s cool.

This was always what we did, but take that with an 80s/90s grain of (sea) salt. Growing up in S FL/Carib the occasional nasty burn was just a fact of life, but I can't say I ever turned purple. Sounds miserable! But also it doesn't sound emergent. Just avoid ice. Extremes aren't a great idea.

[VillainV]

In addition to what everyone has already said, I would check all of the sunscreen he used — I’m wondering if it was expired. If any of it was from last year, then it would be less effective this summer, which might account for why he burned after being diligent about applying and reapplying.

[deadwing]

Jun 27, 2022 0:08:22 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

When I was severely Sun burned in high school, they laid towels on me soaked in Vinegar. I remember it helped but Google it first.

I usually apply a little apple cider vinegar to sun burns! IMO it helps ease the pain and it seems to heal faster.

[HoneySpider]

Jun 27, 2022 0:08:22 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

When I was severely Sun burned in high school, they laid towels on me soaked in Vinegar. I remember it helped but Google it first.

I got a few bad sunburns as a kid and my mom definitely did the vinegar thing. 

[cjcouple]

Thanks everyone, I crashed before seeing all of your comments last night. I peeked in on him this morning and it looks like the swelling is down and color improved some. Its hard to tell because I was peeking under the sheet but I will definitely call his pedi if its not improved or worsened.

I have the green aloe (non fragranced) and placed it in the fridge. I also had the blue aloe with lidocaine BUT he hates that ones because he says it hurts.  Sunscreen is new. His arms, face and legs are all ok (pink but ok). I honestly think the reason is feet are so bad is because it is an area that rarely gets direct sunlight for extended periods of time and he spent a to of time on the kayaks with his feet out. He was there from 10am to sundown with no shade.  Its literally a dirt parking lot with campers on top of each other.  The beach is on one side and the salt water pond on the other so they spent the day going from one to the other riding waves, kayaking, searching for crabs, walking to a seafood shack. 

He had a great time before that night when he really started to feel how bad it was.  The mom did send me this picture (pdq - will delete later). My son is on the yellow kayak which they called the banana boat. lol  

  

[sparkythelawyer]

Got this on my chest one summer sitting on metal bleachers all day in the sun.

The purple does go away, but he'll peel like an SOB. Keep aloe on it liberally, take tylenol for pain, pay attention if he sparks a fever.

[redheadk]

I’m a redhead so had my share of burns in the 80s, once so bad that I got water blisters. Use aloe frequently! It will keep the burn moisturized. Burns are very drying.

[treschic]

The Burt’s bees after sun lotion is the best I’ve found. I just reapply reapply reapply and it helps more quickly than regular aloe.

[cjcouple]

I was wrong, still quite swollen and very red, although the purple seems to be not as noticeable. :-(

[jennistarr1]

this could be a telehealth visit so they can see the color

[fivechickens]

Poor kid.

I had a horrible sunburn during my HS spring break. It happened the first day there, I had blisters all over my body and ruined the rest of the week.

[cjcouple]

I spoke with pediatrician. I'm doing everything I can and they just suggested I add hydrocortisone to the treatment to help with swelling and pain. She said the pain should be gone with 72 hours but the peak pain is 24 hours ins so hopefully he is past the worst of it

[fluffycookie]

DS got a really bad burn on the tops of his feet a couple of summers ago and had a hockey tournament two days later.  We used Burn Jel emergency burn care pain relieving gel on the tops and pushed tylenol and water.