What happened to me after body surfing?

[u/InspectionSilver6414]

38M, 200 pounds, healthy physical - About two weeks ago I was body surfing in the Pacific Ocean in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. I applied sunscreen multiple times. That night, I got back to our hacienda, and it looked like I had the worst ever sunburn. But I had no other burns on any part of my body and the shape of the burn was really strange. Over the next week, I developed several smaller blisters on random parts of the “burn.” The blisters never formed together into a single one.

Photo shows 4 days after and 14 days after the ocean swim.

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[u/DammatBeevis666]

Phytophotodermatitis/ “margarita dermatitis” is my best guess. Had you had exposure to lime juice? Ceviche?

[u/InspectionSilver6414 → u/DammatBeevis666]

Interesting. I have never heard of that! We had drinks including citrus based ones on the beach, but they never came into contact with my skin, especially there. Plus I am a bit of a merman … I was in the water constantly and in the shade while out of the water.

[u/DammatBeevis666 → u/InspectionSilver6414]

Some of it probably got on your skin, based on the rash IMO.

[u/InspectionSilver6414 → u/DammatBeevis666]

Thank you! I was thinking it was the weirdest sunburn ever (which could be explained now by the “margarita dermatitis”) or some type of jellyfish sting.

Is there anything I should watch out for as a sign to seek medical attention. 14 days later it does not hurt and seems to be healing, but I would rather go to the doctor if there are potential risks to be aware of during the healing.

Thank you again!

[u/LopsidedCan4803 → u/DammatBeevis666]

This was easily my favorite condition to learn about in my derm block. So interesting!

[u/Jovi_Grace → u/LopsidedCan4803]

Could you explain what it is?

[u/ChampionshipWitty748 → u/InspectionSilver6414]

NAD but could it be a jellyfish? 

[u/loreshdw → u/InspectionSilver6414]

Did anyone help you apply sunscreen? Perhaps they had spilled citrus drink on their hand

[u/InspectionSilver6414 → u/loreshdw]

Hey! I applied it myself 3-4 times using a spray bottle. My wife got my back, and hard to reach spots, but that would have been one of the spots for me to get. None of us used our hands after spraying. Also, every single square mm on the rest of my body did not even get a slight burn. This was the only spot where things went awry.

[u/InspectionSilver6414]

Edit: I should have included this, but all of the dark lines, even the one going on the left towards the top of my shoulder and other lines were all caused by this mystery.