Mother Says She Was 'Traumatized' When 3-Year-Old Daughter Suffered Extreme 'Margarita Burns'
Summertime is the right time to break out the blender and make your favorite frozen drinks. While I lean toward a homemade Frappuccino myself, the majority of my friends go for a frozen margarita.
No margarita is complete without fresh lime. The same goes for fish tacos, and for the beer drinkers out there, you know a Corona isn’t right without a lime wedge.
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But before you bring out the citrus goodness, you may want to heed one mom’s serious warning. Her daughter’s painful experience may just have you thinking twice before loading up on limes at your local grocery store.
Sabrina Miller made sure her daughter Kaleigh had on plenty of sunscreen before she let her play in the sunshine by a lake.
Despite her protective and very careful efforts, Miller noticed burns and blisters began to show up on her daughter’s skin a few days later.
“I was just kind of traumatized,” Miller told Inside Edition. “I was like, crying my eyes out, [wondering], ‘What is going on with her?'”
As it turns out, what happened to Kaleigh is surprisingly more common than you might think. The 3-year-old’s burns weren’t just from the sun — she had lime juice on her skin, according to a post on Miller’s Facebook page.
Phytophotodermatitis — more commonly known as “margarita burn” — is a serious and painful reaction that occurs on skin that has been exposed to certain fruits and vegetables and sunlight at the same time.
The most common causes are when citrus juices such as lime or lemon come into contact with the skin, according to “Good Morning America.” The rash forms in a day and can even turn into a second-degree burn.
But it isn’t just these additions to our favorite warm weather drinks that can cause harm. Celery and parsley are known culprits too.
“If you’ve ever scalded your hands under hot water or under steam or anything like that, that’s what it felt like for a constant [day],” Elinda Xavier, a pharmacy technician who experienced the same thing as Kaleigh, told Inside Edition.
According to Healthline, if your skin is “wet or sweaty” at the time of contact with the juice — like if you’re having those margaritas poolside — the reaction is worse.
Xavier told Inside Edition, “I’ve learned my lesson” and let this be a warning to anyone who plans on whipping up some cool drinks this season — think about skipping the limes (and lemons and parsley and celery). It’s not worth it.
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