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leg pain/sunburn

I am a 35 year old caucasion female. I went to the beach yesterday and am experiencing the same type of pain that this 18 year old talks about.  It is extremely painful. I don't know the cause and have spent a lot of time searcing for answers online.  This forum was the only place I found a reference to what was happening.  I know that you didn't have any idea what was causing the problem and neither do I. i just wanted to let you know that what she was experiencing was very real, very painful and not in her mind whatsoever. I thought I was nuts when I couldn't find anything about it.  Somebody suggested that it might be caused by dehydration so I am keeping as hydrated as I can. Have you discovered anything out about it? Thanks.


This discussion is related to Chronic leg pain/sunburn.
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Avatar universal
I had the same thing... Dizziness, fainting, pain in legs, swelling.... went to urgent care, and it is Sun Poisoning
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1 Comments
I had something like that and it was a heat stroke they called it.  Is that what you mean?
Avatar universal
This same exact thing happened to me three days ago while laying out, I got burnt on the back of my legs and back but it didn’t seem horrible, I can say I’ve had worse sunburns in the past and never experienced this type of pain with it. When I’m laying down or sitting I’m fine but as soon as I stand it feels like the inside of my leg is being ripped open. It’s not fun at all. I found if I take ibuprofen and soak in cool water it feels a lot better but the pain hasn’t gone away or gotten any better yet. I also searched online for answers and what I did find was something called cellular sunburn but I still couldn’t find that much information about it but that may possible be what this is, however I’m not a doctor so I can’t say for sure. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful :)
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Avatar universal
Same thing happened to me. My legs from about 6 in above the knee to my ankle got burnt from being in the sun about 45 minutes the next morning I could not stand on them. Once I'm up and hobble around I can continue to walk but if you stand still for a few seconds the pain is excruciating. It is now 5 days afterwards and while the sunburn is getting better the pain is still there just as much. I don't know what to do. Everyone is commenting on the same symptoms. Can someone please let us know how long it took for them to get back to normal. Any special treatment the helped? ( Pai  is in the shins).
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Avatar universal
Hi, the same happened to me, exactly the same symptoms, Im Caucasian, female, 34 years old. It's extremely painful. It's been three days now and the pain doesnt go away, it hurts the same when i stand up but the pain goes away faster. I called the doctor, she said this is the first time she heard something like this (we live in the beach so I would imagine this would be something comun), the only explanation she had is the the leg muscles could be dehydrated, but it doesnt hurt in my muscle, it hurts in my shin bone like its going to crack, but Im having a lot of Gatorade and water just in case. Im from Mexico and I couldnt find any forum with this problem. Did someone could find out what is this about and a solution? My dad sent me several articles of this kind of pain in the tibia, and were related to the use of flip flops, it could be an explanation.
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Avatar universal
My husband is experiencing the same thing!!!  We were at the beach Saturday and that evening the pain started exactly as described above and he is not that sun burnt.  This is very strange but I'm glad I found your posts!!
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3 Comments
Hi, 38 white male, I am going through the same condition. I went to the beach with a friend this past weekend. I spent part of the day on the beach. Maybe 4 hours... I used a spray on sunscreen but it didn't work for me. I didn't feel burnt at all but people started to comment that I was red. Then a guy flying a kite ran past looked over and shouted "dude your fried". So we got up and went back to the room. We spent sometime in the room and I was glowing for sure but I didn't feel any pain. We got dressed and spent the night visiting the local bars. Back at the room we started to notice that my skin was emitting alot of heat. We were on the porch and all of the sudden I felt like I was going to pass out and I did. Slowly my vision and hearing started to come back as our friend was pouring cold water all over me. I got up and took a few minutes to revive and breath and we went to sleep. I remember feeling waves of energy flowing outward from my skin as I feel asleep. I woke up feeling well except one thing when I stood up I had a pain in my lower legs that put me right back down. Slowly the pain subsided enough for me to hobble around. I've been sunburned before but what is happening to me now definitely feels internal. My girlfriend was with me the whole time and she didn't get injured at all. Her skin was much more tan than mine too begin with though. Got back Sunday night and got some ibuprofen and I put a ice pack on my legs. As I am writing this is Monday the second day after I layed in the sun. This morning was a real struggle to stand must of been about 10 minutes of sheer pain as I stood up for as long as I could bare it then sat back down until I could stand back up again. Once i was able to bare standing I hobbled to the bathroom and then got dressed. I couldn't stand still for more than 10 seconds if I did the pain would start. If I had to describe my pain it feels like the flesh around my ankles and shins is exploding and those of you who have also felt this know that I am not exaggerating. It would probably be equivalent to sticking your limb over a fire and holding it there. I went into work today thought I could brave it, the pain seamed to get worse as I am on my feet at my work, then I googled it and realized that I might need to get off my feet for a few days. So I've setup shop in my bathroom and made my own burn victim unit. And I've discovered something. If I sit down or lay down for anything more than 5 minutes I will have extreme pain in my legs when I stand. But if I sit next to a tub of cool clear water with my legs soaking into the water for about 10 minutes I can almost hop up and run like nothing is wrong. So I put a fan in the room rigged up some chairs so I can soak my legs for a few minutes then elevate them for a few.     I've been soaking more than I've been elevating though. At one point I looked down and there were milky air bubbles on the pores of my legs. I've been doing this for about 3 hours now. I can get up and get around like nothing is wrong right now. Some of the redness is going away. If I had to recall at this point with a self diagnosis I would say that I was dehydrated either by lack of water or the presence of something that was replacing water in my cells. Then once the sun cooked the moisture that was there I suffered some kind of damage to the more sensitive tissue underneath. I should note that so far I don't have any blisters or spots, bit it's only day 2.
Hey what was your outcome? Experiencing the same thing and don’t see any one that had a remedy.
It is Sun Poisoning...
Avatar universal
I realize these posts are old, but I thought I'd comment anyway just in case this is happening to someone now..  I went to the beach last Saturday for 4 hours.  I am not fair skinned at all..,  I got a terrible sunburn and INTENSE internal pain in my legs as well.  I drank tons of water and Gatorade during that time. I was not all that active at the beach, so I know I did not injure myself.   My legs hurt from below my knee down to my feet.  BAD pain!  It was probably the worst the next day.  Fine while lying down, but the minute you stand the pain kicks in and shoots down to the feet.  Really weird pain like cramping in calves and the worst shin splints you've ever had.     Motrin helped a tiny bit, but not that much.  Thankfully, 2 days later the pain subsided a bit.  Still laid up though. Now it's Tuesday, and I'm walking around almost like normal.  Pain level very low, but still there a little bit.  If anyone else is going through this, you should probably see a dr.  because I really don't know the extent of damage it could do..   I did not visit the Dr. but I was really close to taking myself to the ER...  I googled leg pain and sunburn and found so many similar stories, just not many updates.  Next time you go in the sun,  Don't only wear high spf sunblock, but reapply as directed and don't think you're immune to the sun.  It's stronger than you think and can do more than skin damage.  
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Avatar universal
I also experienced this extremely painfull event following too much sun exposure. Actually, my sunburn was relatively minor. I had slight redness, never blistered or peeled. However, the pain in my legs started a few hours after being in the sun. I was fine while sitting with my legs elevated, or while laying down, but as soon as I tried to get on my feet the pain was so severe it braught me to tears. The pain lasted about three days. I had little redness and little to no swelling. I have often wondered what this was and what was really the cause. I sunburn easily, however I was in the sun for much less than an hour and if it were not for this deep leg pain, I would not have considered much of the sunburn. I have a sister who tells me she experienced the same thing following sun exposure. I thought it may have been a result of dehydration, however I never had any leg cramping. I also drank a lot of water immediately after in hopes it would aleviate some of the pain. It did not seem to make a difference. I would like to know if any doctor is familiar with this condition.
Julie
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Avatar universal
Well, you're not alone. The same thing is happening to me. I'm 35 and olive-skinned. I got a bad sunburn a few days ago. More so than the pain on my skin, the pain somewhere inside my legs was unbearable and I could barely walk. Now, three days later, I still have trouble getting out of bed and my ankles are now so swollen, they look like they're about to explode. I'm considering seeing a doctor because I'm diabetic as well, and like you said, this seems to be somewhat of a mystery.

If you ended up getting to the bottom of this, please let me know what you found out. Hope you're well!

Stefanie
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Hi Brebe,

Welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum. There are no physicians on this forum. I did follow your link and noted that the thread that you are referring to (Jan. 09) is on the forum by Jeffrey T Junig, MD PhD - Chronic Pain.

I am sorry you are experiencing this type of pain. You may want to post on Dr Junig's Forum for a medical professional opinion. I hope you will soon be feeling better. You may be correct. It could be in part from dehydration.

Best of luck to you.
Take Care,
Tuck

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