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SUNBURN AND PAINFUL SWOLLEN LEGS

I HAVE A SEVERE SUNBURN ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF BOTH OF MY LEGS, NOT THE FIRST TIME FOR THAT BUT IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG TIME SINCE IT HAS HAPPENED, HOWEVER, I HAVE SWELLING ALL THE WAY UP BOTH LEGS AND IN BOTH  FEET. ELEVATING THEM SEEMS TO HELP WITH THE UNCOMFORT OF THE SWELLING, BUT WHEN I PUT THEM BACK DOWN IT HURTS LIKE I BROKE MY LEGS! THE FEEING SUBSIDES AFTER JUST A FEW MINUTES AND I AM ABLE TO WALK BUT THEN THE SWELLING COMES BACK AGAIN. IT HAS BEEN OVER 48 HOURS SINCE THE BURN OCCURED. DO I NEED TO BE CONCERNED WITH THE PAIN AND SWELLING OR JUST MANAGE THEM WITH ELEVATIION AND MOTRIN? IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE THAT HAS CAUSED THIS SINCE I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS TYPE OF SYMPTOM WITH A SUNBURN?


This discussion is related to sunburn?.
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Avatar universal
I had a similar concern regarding swelling (edema) of the feet and ankles noticed after a sunburn-filled vacation overseas and thought I might add my non-medical professional two cents as a 40 year old with no known allergies.

I had experienced this type of swelling once previously after a long flight where lack of movement seemed to cause blood/fluid collection under low air pressure to build up in both legs and feet. The swelling was gone after an hour of walking through the airport for baggage and parking.

After a more recent flight I noticed the same condition, however, this time the swelling lasted well into the following day. I believed the difference may be related to the sunburn on my legs and feet sustained two days before my return flight, causing an extra fluid build-up. I attempted rest with legs and feet elevated which resulted in slightly reduced swelling. I had also taken a dose of an anti-infammaotry ibuprofen. It wasn't until quite a bit of walking and excercise until the swelling had reduced completely.

The exercise seemed to help force the fluid out of the tissue. I should note, the swelling was in both legs and was not painful other than the streching of sunburned skin.

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Avatar universal
I dont have an answer, just a related question. I was boating for about 4-5 hours during a camping trip, as well as tubing and using a water jungle gym. My sunburns arent severe, but to the side of my right thigh where Im not sunburned, I cant feel anything. Its been this way for 3 days now, and Im getting concerned. It feels professionally numbed by a doctor, so I can still feel pressure, but no pain necessarily. I have tried to wake it up, or tab and lightly scratch and nothing responds. Anyone know what is happening?
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I also forgot to mention we were camping in tents, and there was no shade. We brought aloe but there was nothing else we could really do.
Avatar universal
I'll keep this short and sweet : I had badly burned the front of my legs. Couldn't walk, had to shuffle. Sleep was miserable.  Ankles and knees were horribly swollen. What I did : drank A LOT and I mean a lot of water. Took advil for the pain and inflammation and  I rested. Don't use skin topicals with alcohol in it - that only dries the skin. Go to health store ( independent or Whole Foods) and get a skin spray with Active Aloe in it. Also a spray with lavender is good too. Take Epson salt baths.  Use Cool wet paper towels. Apply gentle lotion (like Aveeno) if / when you can touch your skin, as you don't want skin to dry out.  I'm on day 4 and finally moving around today. Still swollen ankles but I'm  in much better shape, pain still exists but only slight and the heat feeling on my legs has calmed down. Horrible experience! Lesson learned.  So remember : Water. Advil. Aloe. Epson. Lotion.Rest. PS I also heard Noxema is soothing too.
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Avatar universal
My belief, as I am going through this now, is that after testing (yeah, it hurt like hell, but I learned) is that the issue has to do with blood pressure in your skin. It feels muscular, probably it isn't.

If you notice, it gets worse when you fully stand, if you stoop, it lessens? Yeah. blood pressure. If you stand long enough, and slowly enough, it stops altogether. BUT it will return after you sit or lay for a while. The longer you lay, the longer it will take to recover from that initial blast of pain... How long? Why? don't know... but I'm 100% certain it is relatd to blood pressure in the burnt skin.

Please correct me or add if you know more details.
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The front of my legs got sunburned just by sitting for a little while at the beach this past weekend. It was sunny, yet windy which is why I didn't feel the burning. As my skin started turning red later that afternoon, my ankles and feet started getting swollen. My skin was hurting so bad and all the swollen parts almost felt numb to the touch. I am also 100% certain this was due to the shock on the burnt skin, almost like a feverish reaction, since this is the second time it has happened from being in the sun. I applied cooling aloe vera gel with lidocaine for two days. However, it is extremely painful as the skin starts drying and when standing. On the third day I started applying lotion to hydrate my skin. Standing all day at work does not help either, so once I get home, I elevate my legs against the wall at a 90 degree angle to help relieve the swelling. It's been five days now, and the pain on the skin is subsiding. I have bought compression socks to help stop the swelling while at work.
I am going through this right now, my thighs are beginning to turn purple and I'm starting to get blisters too. So what you're saying is that standing up helps a lot more with the healing process than laying down?
Thanks for all the swollen ankle comments. I was getting concerned. Yep, know what you're talking about. I'm a 34 yr old white male. Sunburned myself like never before from right above the knee to the ankle. All because I failed to apply sun screen! Swollen ankles spread to the feet. My feet still go partially numb after resting. After standing up pain shoots through my legs for the first minute or two then it subsides.Hurts like mad. It seems to help by rising very slowly, since the pain doesn't allow me to be in any other position for the first minute or two. I had some spider veins burst in around the ankle area. Hopefully will mend themselves. Its about two days ago since I sunburned myself and I dont see any blisters, but I did apply Sun Shades After Sun Hydrogel E gel that cools and sooths over Exposed Skin. Swelling seems to be going down a wee bit, but it did travel out to my toes today. Now that Ive been laying down for about two hours the swelling is really went down. I am staying out of sun until the swelling stays away! Swollen ankles could indicate a serious health problem unrelated to getting sunburned, but in my case its making sense that Im dealing with a sunburn. It didn't help that I was surf fishing in surf water up to my knees all afternoon. Something I never did before.
Avatar universal
I have been reading about these symptoms all over the internet....No one seems to have an answer.  The same thing happened to me last year.  I work at a teaching hospital--in The Emergency Department.  The burn center docs said they didnt think the problem was burn related as they had never seen anything like that.  The ED docs had no idea?  Immunology didnt think it was an immune response, Ditto for all the other departments.  I was at a loss?  I do have a connective tissue disorder--Graves Disease.  I wondered if it might be an immune response?  I was at the Gulf and in the water after my sunburn.  The sunburn did seem to burn way more than one would have expected.  One of the ED docs that trained in Galveston noted that there was a huge bacterial lode in the water--and it was  possible it could be related to a bacteria in the water.  He prescribed a certain antibiotic.  This did seem to help.  I dont know if it was the time factor(as it had been 5 days) or if it was the antibiotic?  But, I will say....I had access to a wide variety of specialists at the hospital.  And, no one knew for certain what had caused the reaction?  I am not too confident that a general practitioner would know?  Good luck
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Avatar universal
hey, my girlfriend was in the sun four days ago and got sunburnt now her ankles and feet are swollen and she cant walk without severe pain. she's 22 and we have no idea what to do. we have tryed putting them in cold water, sitting with a wet towel over them, su nburn cream, everything but nothing is working, please help we dont have long left on our holiday and we've been stuck inside.
when she gets out of a hot bath normally her feet go black and blue, could this have anything to do with it???
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Avatar universal
Hey ladybug, I am going through the same exact thing right now I got burned 4 days ago and keeps getting worse now my legs are discolored purple and blotchy swelling became so severe I lost feeling in my left foot. did you get any answers that may help me with my recovery?
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi.

When did the sunburn happen?

At this point, I am thinking that this may not be associated with the sunburn.This seems to be a case of orthostatic edema which seems to be aggravated by walking around or prolonged standing. I suggest that you have this assessed by your physician so that a complete physical examination be done .

Do you have any varicosities in both legs?

Any discolorations?

A complete examination of your pulses as well as evaluation  kidney function may be necessary.
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Please do not leave your comments or ask questions with ALL capital letters.  This tells the reader that you are SHOUTING.  Thank you.
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