Mom sends warning after “margarita burn” leaves infant with blisters and bad rash
Editor’s note: This article includes graphic images of a rash that may be hard for some to look at.
A Canadian mom said her infant recently suffered a rash and blisters around her mouth after she chewed on a piece of celery for a few minutes in the sun.
Reanna Bendzak shared photos of her daughter, who was seven months old at the time, in hopes to warn others of phytophotodermatitis (also known as a “margarita burn”).
According to the National Institute of Medicine, this is caused by a chemical usually found in citrus fruits and vegetables reacting with sunlight.
Bendzak said her daughter was chewing on celery to help soothe her teething gum and was in the sun for about 20 to 30 minutes.
“The celery juice/drool was wiped away with a dry cloth and bathed that evening,” she explained.
However, when her daughter woke up the next morning, she had a rash around her mouth, which later worsened into blisters that day, Bendzak told Good Morning America.
Reanna Bendzak/Facebook
“It wasn’t warm by any means, but it was sunny, so she was covered neck-to-toe in a onesie, and we had a sun hat on her, so we thought she was fairly well-protected,” she told ABC News.
Bendzak added her daughter was later diagnosed with phytophotodermatitis — a condition she had never heard of before.
In a Facebook post, Bendzak said her infant is healing well, but “we now have a long road of hyperpigmentation and scarring to treat.”
According to GMA, the child had blisters on her mouth area for about 10 days and has had scarring and hyperpigmentation for several weeks.
Bendzak is encouraging others to be mindful of what snacks and drinks they consume to stay cool on hot sunny days to avoid a similar burn.
How to prevent a “margarita burn”
According to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent, carrots, peppers, dill, fennel, mustard, parsley, and parsnip can cause phytophotodermatitis.
She suggests the best way to prevent this burn is to wash your skin with soap and water after handling food in the sun and wearing sunscreen daily.
Ashton added that phytophotodermatitis can come in a spectrum of severity from mild to severe.
“In mild cases, where someone has touched a lime or the citrus, you could just see some itching, some inflammation,” Ashton explained. “You could see some redness or pinkish discoloration depending on skin colour, and then you could see a full spectrum of severity, ranging in more moderate cases to discoloration that may persist longer, and in severe cases, even some small blistering.”
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