a medical question for the board

[bullmarket]

My 14 year old grandson and his family and friends went to Whitewater today.
They stayed out there for about 5 hours. All of them used sunscreen.

Despite the sunscreen our grandson got burned especially on his back and .stomach.

After arriving home in about two hours he started shivering.

His family had him take a cold bath. and applied a cream with Aloe. He also took ibuprophen.

He says he is feeling better but I was concerned because of the shivering. He does not have a fever.

Any thoughts?

 

[iasooner1]

Call Sean or the local hospital "ask a Nurse" asap !

 

[sybarite43]

I am NOT a physician. I have seen some bad sunburns, especially around water---lakes or the ocean. Sunburns can surprise you. I would take my child to an emergency room. Likely, it isn't that serious. If it isn't, you've just wasted time and money. If it is, you might save a life. Essentially, I would be trying to guard against something. My child's life is more important than my ego. I don't mind looking like an alarmist.

 

[Senior Sooner]

During my college days, Circa 1900, Roomo and I pooled our meager resources and bought a sun lamp. I fell asleep under it, which resulted in a severe burn and a trip to the Infirmary for salve, ointment or ANY kind of relief. Surprisingly, they kept me...For several days! The concern was not for my burns, as much as for the effect on my kidneys, which had to shift into overdrive to rid my body of toxins. Dehydration was/is another potential side effect. PLEASE, push those fluids, and encourage Bull, Jr. to take Bull III to get checked!

 

[Oklabama]

Bull, the shivering is probably due chills which may be a sign of fever. Check and if his temperature is near 101 or higher, take him to the ER. Regardless, have him to drink water, drink water, drink water.

 

[owenfieldreams]

It's a standard symptom of sunburn. When your skin is damaged your blood vessels expand causing chills. This is NOT an emergency room mandated symptom.

 

[CTOkie]

Make this a life time lesson. All the sunbathing we do as youngsters.....and young adults....can come back to haunt us as we pass age 50, and especially age 60 in the form of skin cancer.
Nice to look tan and healthy, but being tan isn't necessarily being healthy, especially in the long run.

 

[Senior Sooner]

Make this a life time lesson. All the sunbathing we do as youngsters.....and young adults....can come back to haunt us as we pass age 50, and especially age 60 in the form of skin cancer.
Nice to look tan and healthy, but being tan isn't necessarily being healthy, especially in the long run.

Right On, CT...Too Soon, We Get Old...Too Late, We Get Smart...

UVA...UBA...SPF...Those were not in our parent's vocabulary, nor ours. If we were lucky, we scored a bottle of Coppertone, but not a lot of emphasis was put on the importance of its use...

Another of Life's Lessons learned the Hard Way...Too Little, Too Late...

 

[CTOkie]

Right On, CT...Too Soon, We Get Old...Too Late, We Get Smart...

UVA...UBA...SPF...Those were not in our parent's vocabulary, nor ours. If we were lucky, we scored a bottle of Coppertone, but not a lot of emphasis was put on the importance of its use...

Another of Life's Lessons learned the Hard Way...Too Little, Too Late...

Had skin cancer removed on my nose 4 years ago using the Mohs method where the opening is left open while the cancerous tissue is examined. If all is taken out, the incision is closed, as it was with me. But while my cut was open, I asked for a mirror to see what it looked like. Big mistake....very big !

 

[Medic007]

My 14 year old grandson and his family and friends went to Whitewater today.
They stayed out there for about 5 hours. All of them used sunscreen.

Despite the sunscreen our grandson got burned especially on his back and .stomach.

After arriving home in about two hours he started shivering.

His family had him take a cold bath. and applied a cream with Aloe. He also took ibuprophen.

He says he is feeling better but I was concerned because of the shivering. He does not have a fever.

Any thoughts?

Probably going to be rough for a few days. Lidocaine based gels work well. To prevent sunburn like these, sunscreen needs to be reapplied every hour when you're swimming, sliding, etc.

It's a standard symptom of sunburn. When your skin is damaged your blood vessels expand causing chills. This is NOT an emergency room mandated symptom.

This. He may also feel like he has the flu. A sunburn is widespread skin damage so he's going to have an inflammatory response. That can present as flu like symptoms. They used to call it sun poisoning back in the day.

 

[kcstorm06]

There is sun poisoning from severe sunburn and exposure. I had this same thing during a long float trip. It passes but keep further sun exposure to minimum. Aloe get and cold compresses after this passes will help.

 

[CTOkie]

My brother had sun poisoning that plagued him for a week. Watching a Rutgers game with a bald head and without a hat did its job on him.

 

[iasooner1]

I used to burn badly every summer, spending 5-9 hours at the pool (Much longer at the green country lakes) pre sunscreen era. Then I moved North when I was 23 where I've lost all my tan from earlier years. No skin cancer issues yet...

 

[Medic007]

I used to burn badly every summer, spending 5-9 hours at the pool (Much longer at the green country lakes) pre sunscreen era. Then I moved North when I was 23 where I've lost all my tan from earlier years. No skin cancer issues yet...

Does the sunlight ever even reach 4 hours per day in Iowa?

 

[iasooner1]

Barely... No, one can get burnt here easily too; 'pool season' only lasts barely 3 months unless one can afford an indoor one. Lakes are very few and very small.

Put another way, its 65 here today (we've had 2 days over 80 so far). Lots of 'farmer tans'; hard to get burned when you have to wear a sweatshirt outside or a wetsuit to swim.

 

[bullmarket]

Thanks to everyone. Reading all of these posts was very informative

I did call a nurse last night at Baptist Hospital, I told her how his parents were treating him with a cold bath, ointment with Aloe and Ibuprofen.

She asked if there was any blistering and does he have a fever.

I said no. She added that to look and see if it looks infected after 24 hours, Also see if he does have severe pain in the 24 hours, If so a MD should be seen.

Thanks again to all.