Medical Minutes: Understanding sun poisoning
Andrea Turisk
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Most of us have experienced the pain of a sunburn, but there’s more severe condition many don’t people recognize, which is sun poisoning. It can even land you in the ER.
Dr. Donald Hubbard, Medical Director and Emergency Medicine Physician at Exceptional Community Hospital in Yuma, says it can start from a just a minor sunburn and it can go up to severe sunburn.
“The one thing you notice with the sunburn is you’re gonna have pain and you’re gonna have red skin that can go from a mild irritation to a severe sunburn where you get blisters. It’s rare to get a 2nd degree burn from the sun, but it’s not impossible in. In rare circumstances you can get a 3rd degree burn from the sun,” he said.
Hubbard mentions preventative steps you can take in order to stay protected from the sun.
“Well, you know, people who work in the sun, you notice they wear long sleeve shirts and they wear hats that protect their heads and they usually have something protecting their neck. If you’re gonna be in the sun a lot I would recommend something like that,” he shared.