A Sydney mother has warned all parents about the unexpected dangers of lime juice after a “scary experience” in which her daughter and a friend’s son suffered major “burns”.
Felicity Frankish said that when her eight-year-old daughter Cassie complained that her fingers were burning on Easter Sunday, she initially didn’t pay much attention.
“He often has discomfort that passes as quickly as it appears,” Ms. Frankish wrote in the North Shore Moms website, which she edits.
But this time it didn’t happen, and it was more than just a nuisance.
“It wasn’t until we were sitting on a ride at the Sydney Family Show four hours later and she had tears in her eyes that I knew this was serious,” he said.
After a terrifying experience, a Sydney mother has warned all parents about the unexpected dangers of a food commonly found in Australian homes. The photo shows the rash it caused on Max’s stomach.
The painful daisy burns on the leg of Cassie, Frankish’s daughter
By the time they got home to Sydney’s north shore, the burning rash had spread all over Cassie’s legs and she was in a lot of pain.
Frankish immediately called the friend he had been with the day before to see if his son Max was experiencing anything similar.
They said no, but a few hours later I also had a rash.
The parents assumed the children had contact rash, gave them antihistamines, and started looking at all the bushes they had been playing in the day before.
“As we investigated, the pain got worse and blisters started to appear,” Mrs Frankish said.
At that point, they went straight to a GP to be diagnosed with contact rash and given steroids, but these didn’t help.
“Every hour we saw blisters appear on our children’s skin without having any idea what was causing them,” she said.
Nothing made sense, so Frankish Googled the symptoms to see if he could find any answers.
‘When I came across phytophotodermatitis, also known as daisy burn, it all made sense. It was the files.
On Saturday afternoon, Cassie and Max had picked limes in Max’s garden and cut them to make lime juice, dripping the lime on them as they did so.
The red rash turned out not to be a rash, but burns all over Max’s legs, fingers, and stomach where the files had touched them.
“Lime contains furocoumarins, a class of chemicals found in some plants and fruits that, when exposed to sunlight, can cause sensitivity and burns,” Ms Frankish explained.
“Something so innocent was actually so dangerous.”
They took the children directly to a hospital emergency room because the children’s pain was getting worse and they needed to be treated for what they were.
But both children were again diagnosed with contact rash and offered steroids as they were told it was not a daisy burn.
Frankish stood his ground and urged one of the doctors to just look into it.
When Frankish’s eight-year-old daughter Cassie (left) said her fingers were burning on Easter Sunday, he didn’t pay much attention (her daughter’s friend Max, pictured right).
Felicity Frankish wrote on the North Shore Mums website, which she edits, that her daughter “often has discomfort that passes as quickly as it appears.” But this time, it wasn’t just a nuisance.
“After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor returned convinced, began treating the burns and asked us to return as outpatients the next day,” he said.
But by the next morning, the blisters had multiplied and both Cassie and Max were in agony.
The parents decided to go to another hospital in hopes of avoiding the long wait they had experienced the day before.
That meant having to go through the whole process again, telling the nurses and doctors about the daisy burn.
The medical staff, in turn, contacted Westmead Children’s Hospital, obtained appropriate advice and dressed the children’s wounds, finally providing them with some relief.
However, the journey back to health was not yet over and families took their children to the Westmead Burns Unit.
‘It was there that Cassie and Max finally received the care they needed. The blistered and sore skin was carefully treated and wrapped,” Mrs Frankish said.
Max and his friend Cassie are pictured on a hospital cart while being treated for daisy burns.
The children (pictured) were in a lot of pain from the burns, which were initially thought to be a rash.
‘This experience was a wake-up call for me. “Something as simple as playing with limes in the backyard led to such a terrifying experience.”
She said she wanted to share this story with other parents, “hoping it can prevent a similar situation and educate others about the hidden dangers that can turn an innocent day into a nightmare.”
“We had no idea citrus could cause this or we would never have let our children play with limes and we would love to raise awareness,” Ms Frankish told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
He added that while they had to go through some hospitals for treatment, that was their personal choice and “everyone was very helpful and we have no problem with the treatment at any stage of the process.”
What is phytophotodermatitis?
Phytophotodermatitis, also known as daisy burn, is an inflammatory reaction resulting from contact with a light-sensitizing botanical agent, such as lime juice, followed by exposure to ultraviolet A light, such as that from the sun.
The skin turns red (pictured) and begins to itch and burn.
Symptoms include erythema, edema, blisters, and delayed hyperpigmentation.
Heat and humidity tend to make the reaction worse.
A reaction typically begins within 24 hours of exposure and peaks between 48 and 72 hours after exposure.
Initially, the skin turns red and begins to itch and burn.
Large blisters form within 48 hours.
The blisters can leave black, brown, or purplish scars that can last for several years.
This skin hyperpigmentation is caused by melanin production triggered by furanocoumarins commonly present in citrus plants.