Aw poor wee boy ! Citrus fruits can be quite harsh indeed and apparently the highest concentration of this chemical furocoumarin is in the peel. Not strange when you figure that the peel also gives the sharpest taste. When we were young teenagers we often would bring a lemon to the beach to bleach our hair, lol

Poor little thing – that looks absolutely horrific! Being that we live in a relatively hot place, I am surprised I haven’t heard more about similar incidents. I did not even realise citrus fruits could do this! And yet, oranges are one of the top things they hand out at sporting events.

wow… I have never heard of such a thing but when you think about it it does make sense as its called citric acid for a reason.
Poor little darling as it does look very painful. I guess this is something to be aware of and make sure you wash kids hands and faces after eating citrus

Aw bless, that looks sore and raw ! I never have thought of this, but then I never had my kids playing with a lime or another citrus fruit outside in the sun. It is however not surprising as citrus fruits can be quite harsh indeed.
I remember back in the days we would take sometimes a lemon to the beach to bleach our hair in the sun !

I have never heard of this. I hope he recovered well.

I’ve heard of this before, though never seen it – I’d assume it’s quite rare, but most years someone seems to relate a horrible experience as a warning to others. It’s a nice easy way to prevent it, but I guess the problem is that you have to be thinking about it at the time.

I have never seen this effect = I guess because most children don’t play with citrus fruit as it is too sour for them to do so. My children loved their fruit and I have seen similar burns on their skins from mangos but wasn’t aware that citrus could do the same thing. Do hope the toddler won’t have life lasting scars on his little body.

I’m shocked. I didn’t know citrus could cause this much skin damage.

I’m horrified to see these burns on a child just from eating (and spilling) a citrus fruit on their skin. Why have we never seen this happen before? I hope they aren’t left with life-long scars from this. I don’t have to worry for myself as I’m allergic to all citrus fruits, I can’t even touch them. I must let my Grandson and his wife know because they have 2 little ones.

Thank you for sharing the information and for raising awareness about a possible danger. The list of symptoms is quite long and very good to know; it is always good to be alert to possible danger. The injury in the photo looks extremely sore and I can only imagine quite painful.

Wow this looks so painful. Hope he’s ok

Oh my goodness, that is terrible! Who knew?

I remember seeing a similar story to this a little while ago. Those burns look insane and I had previously never heard of being able to get such burns! I mean they are always encouraging eating oranges after fun runs, etc. It’s such an innocent way for a child to be seriously injured!

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 29 Oct 2024 , 6:07 am

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  You really have made such a good point about when oranges are given to people to eat at events. Possibly this is something that will now be looked at for group events and people in similar situations. Possibly organisers will need to look at other options to provide to a group of people.

Poor little sweetie that looks very painful. I’ve never heard of this type of burn before. So the chemical is in the skin of the fruit as well as the juice? And apparently can be found in celery as well! I wonder how long it would take for a burn to occur? What about processed juice? Like orange juice? I wonder if that would have the same reaction?

Aw that looks nasty and sore, bless the wee child ! I bet the mum won’t have her child playing with a whole lime in the sun anymore. Margarita burn is caused by the psoralens, or skin irritants, that can be found in limes as well as other citrus fruits and celery. Psoralens are irritants that make your skin more sensitive to UV light, enabling stronger and faster reaction to UV light.

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  • • Ellen replied
    • 24 Oct 2024 , 5:08 am

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  Mild cases of margarita burn can generally be treated at home with supportive measures that reduce pain and shorten the duration of symptoms, like: Cold compresses. Anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, healing ointments like Aquaphor or Vaseline to help heal the skin, over-the-counter hydrocortisone ointment and staying out of the sun can help of course !
  For more severe cases, I would certainly go to the GP and possibly ask for a referral to see a dermatologist

Another lesson for me I am still learning after 4 children poor little thing

Wow this poor little boy, that looks nasty and very very sore. I would never have known that these kinds of fruit juices could do anything like that. I really feel for that boy and what the sun has done. I hope it doesn’t scare him. This is a good reminder about how careful we need to be in the sun.

Oh that poor lil babe. I have seen warnings like this before. Who would have guessed a severe wound like that could be inflicted by citrus?!? I hope the little one wasn’t left with any lasting scarring. With summer just around the corner, and the sun already showing how powerful it is, this is a great reminder to be careful outside.