# Doctors? Sunburn and little white bumps **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442 "2001-04-26T21:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/1 "2001-04-26T21:25:53Z")
I found out my sunscreen from last year was no good about five minutes before departing on a long motorcycle ride last Saturday (to say goodbye to **TruePisces** ) and I got some serious sunburn on the backs of my hands (1st Deg style). I am used to getting impermeable skin over a sunburn and having sweat blisters, and that’s kinda what these look like, but they are hard, like warts. I have maybe three dozen on my left hand and two dozen on my left, really small (2 to 3mm). They showed up pretty soon after exposure (24 - 36 hrs). My hand itches a very little bit, but that may be part of the sunburn healing. They have not peeled, although I was sure they would by now. Ample doses of lotion to help save my skin, literally. Any M.D. types have any clue? Any fairskinned Irish types have any experience? Will they have to amputate? I yes, I did buy SPF 45 the next morning before the ride home. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/2 "2001-04-26T23:18:59Z")
Yikes, you in for it man. Ha! Just kidding, have a look around [webmd.com](http://webmd.com) [http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.52035](http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1680.52035) e.g. " Baby boomers and others who once sought the sun’s rays with little thought of skin damage are now paying the price – billions of dollars annually for cosmetics containing alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs). Derived from fruit and milk sugars and served up in creams and lotions, AHAs attract customers with their supposed ability to reduce wrinkles, spots, and other signs of aging, sun-damaged skin. Some scientific evidence suggests they may work. ``` But are these products safe? Since 1989, the Food and Drug Administration has received more than 100 reports of adverse reactions in people using AHA products. Their complaints included severe redness, swelling (especially in the area of the eyes), burning, blistering, bleeding, rash, itching, and skin discoloration." ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/3 "2001-04-26T23:46:53Z")
This almost sounds like herpes. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/4 "2001-04-26T23:54:47Z")
Here’s a possibility: [http://www.aaaskindoctor.com/sunallergy.html](http://www.aaaskindoctor.com/sunallergy.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/5 "2001-04-26T23:55:09Z")
I should probably explain further. Oddly where I saw this was also on a bike trip where my buddy sunburnt his forearms. The burn was not that bad but erupted in dense areas of whitish lumps. It didn’t look like the typical pictures I have seen and they didn’t break like a cold sore. We had no idea what it was. The doctor told him that sundamaged skin can allow the virus a foothold and he could well have had the virus since childhood without it surfacing till now. Just a WAG of course but it sure sounds similar. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/6 "2001-04-26T23:59:02Z")
Herpes is a WAY outside chance! I’ve been a sunscreen junkie since the olden times, father a skin cancer poster child. Grew up Irish blooded on an island in SC. I AM a GOOD candidate for the big “C” (skin cancer, anyway), but this ain’t it. Sun poisoning I’ve had, not sure what this is. ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/7 "2001-04-27T01:01:17Z")
Look anything like this? What my friend had looked like this but whiter, maybe thats because the skin was quite red. [http://www.dermis.net/doia/image.asp?zugr=d&lang=e&cd=60&nr=20&diagnr=53900](http://www.dermis.net/doia/image.asp?zugr=d&lang=e&cd=60&nr=20&diagnr=53900) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/8 "2001-04-27T01:18:48Z")
**cher3** and **Ned** , many thanks for the cites. The photo looks like liquid blisters, mine are wart-ish (solid, hard), and the description in the text given by **cher3** was also very close, but these are definitely white. Will post pic in a few. Not a hypochondriac, BTW, just curious about new stuff on my body. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/9 "2001-04-27T01:28:02Z")
OK, not a great pic, but WTF? Hard to see, but not liquid blisters. [http://www.geocities.com/unclebill35/photo4.html](http://www.geocities.com/unclebill35/photo4.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Ned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ned)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-sunburn-and-little-white-bumps/63442/10 "2001-04-27T02:40:26Z")
From the pic you posted it looks a bit like what I saw but I couldn’t say. His didn’t really look like blisters either. Have him on the phone. Apparently they never really erupted. Scrubbed them vigorously with a cotton ball and hydrogen peroxide, some scabbed over slightly at the tip and they all dissapeared quickly. Hasn’t ever had it happen again (this was ten years ago). Might be worth a try, I can’t imagine it would hurt. I would have them looked at myself.