Be careful if you're squeezing a lime into a drink by the pool.
Lime juice, or juice from other drink adornments like lemons and celery, can mix with the sun to create painful blisters and burns.
Dermatologists say they often see patients in the spring and summer who have been mixing drinks outside. For example, some had lime juice on their palms after making margaritas, then sat in the sun without washing their hands.
"It is very painful because it's like a burn," said Dr. Larisa Geskin, associate professor of dermatology at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "Instead of burning yourself with the oil that splashes from your pan, it's basically a chemical reaction."
The condition, called phytophotodermatitis, is also called "margarita dermatitis," Geskin added.
A chemical in certain plants and fruits makes the skin more sensitive to sun, triggering a reaction when mixed with sunlight, said Dr. Vesna Petronic-Rosic, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Chicago.
Those affected by it can get a painful rash and even second-degree burns with blisters.
"When you expose the skin to [the chemicals] and then you expose it to sunlight, you get an exaggerated sunburn reaction," Petronic-Rosic said.
