Are you surprised? To us too, but it can happen and believe us, they are awful. The spots produced by burns with lemon or citrus in general are extremely painful and difficult to remove. Although lemon is known as a miracle for depigmenting, it can be counterproductive if not used wisely.
If you have had contact with citrus fruits or you have applied any home remedy with this and you have a brown spot with pain to the touch, it is probably because of this and to teach you to get rid of that problem.
Why lemon causes skin blemishes
The Bergapten is a substance that is present in the lemon, but also in other citrus fruits such as tangerine and orange and is characterized by stain and burn the skin when it remains in this and expose the area to direct sunlight.
Although it happens more commonly in home remedies that are used directly on the skin, it can happen with any drop or stream of lemon that has fallen somewhere exposed to the sun, either on a beach, pool or day to day, so Therefore, it is very important to immediately wash the area that has been touched with lemon or its juice with soap and water.
Symptoms and what to do when presenting a lemon burn
The first and most noticeable symptoms are brown spots on the skin, known as phytophotodermatitis and are caused by citrus specifically. In case of being a few drops, they should be spots scattered throughout the area where the fruit juice fell. On some occasions, burning, itching or a burning sensation may occur because it is effectively burning the skin and sometimes blisters appear.
If you feel any pain, the first thing you should do is place ice wrapped in a thin cloth (to avoid worsening the burn with the cold) or a cold compress based on physiological serum on the damaged skin. You can also opt for very cold compresses of chamomile tea to help deflate and soothe the pain a bit. If you want, you can freeze the physiological serum or chamomile in ice buckets and then apply them over the affected area with the help of gauze.
Also, take precautions and avoid coming into contact with citrus fruits or in this case, lemon, when you are outdoors or exposed to direct sun and, if so, rinse the area with soap and water immediately to prevent bergaptene from making its effect.
How to remove spots on the skin caused by lemon
As we have explained above, these spots appear by exposure to sunlight, therefore, the first steps to eliminate the spots is to avoid such exposure and protect them from the sun to the maximum:
- Use sunscreen: itis very important that you completely cover the stain with a generous layer of sunscreen with an SPF of not less than 50. Use it every time you go out of the house to the sun and apply again every 30 minutes while you stay out.
- Apply creams or lotions that contain vitamin A:this vitamin is excellent to help regenerate the skin and, in addition, to bleach it, therefore, it will help you recover from burning and eliminate brown hyperpigmentation. Spread the cream very well throughout the affected area and try to use it when you get home, preferably at night and apply it in the morning before sunscreen.
With these remedies, the stain may take approximately two months to disappear, however, daily care should be taken and avoiding sun exposure as much as possible. Likewise, if the stain is excessively large, we recommend you go to the dermatologist and this will prescribe special creams with corticosteroids to regenerate the skin 100%.
