swelling after sunburn

I recently got bad sun burn on both legs and now my legs are swollen, I thought it wasn't a related issue but I went to my Dr. and we can't figure what else it can be. I’ve never had swelling like this before in my legs (but I’ve never had a bad sun burn on my legs before either)...

Thank you all for sharing. I got sunburn very bad on my legs and feet. I noticed my anles were swelling up. I got very worried. I am glad to know that this does happen with a bad sunburn.

i am also happy that i am not the only one!  i was freaking out that i might have celulitis  oh, maybe that is the name of the condition.  any way, i didnt see anyone come back with a post saying that all of the inflamation went down.  i hope that no body died because of the swelling.

I am glad I found this post. The front of my legs are badly burnt and I cannot straighten my legs out. I didn't think my legs were swollen, but I felt them and they are very tight. My friend is a pharmacist and she told me to take some Ibuprofen. It helped a little. I used some cold rags on my legs, but I still can't walk right. I'm just glad to see I am not the only one with swollen legs. Thanks for the info!

Thanks for all the admissions/confessions... just saved me a trip to the doc.  Got the worst burn of my life a couple days ago and as I've been hobbling around in pain, I noticed some pretty extreme swelling in the lower calf/ankle area.  Becoming concerned I decided to check out what the internet had to say (I mean, if it's on the internet it's gotta be true... right?)  Even in pain I had to laugh a bit at everyones posts.  Thanks for the info and remember, misery loves company. 

 

BTW, I'm never leaving the house without SPF 200.

I have recently gone tanning and used a bed that I have never used.. It had special lights for your face, I woke up the next day with hives all over and my face completely swollen

I recently got sunburnt due to lack of re-applying. I'm pretty sure my skin is swollen in the affected areas because I notice that on the backs of my knees (where some of the worst burns are) When I bend my knees it feels puffy and I can't full bend them.

Woohoo. I thought I was dying wobbling around like an old lady feeling like my legs were about explode. It does suck though. Won't lie. I feel like I'm trying everything the past three days and the swelling is steady hanging on. It's annoying. Don't fall asleep on the beach. Knee caps are the worrrst.

I was on the beach 3 days ago. I applied sunscreen using the spray kind and apparently I hardly covered anything. My sunburn is so severe in some areas and not so bad in others. I look RIDICULOUS! Just an hour or so ago, I realized that my right foot is swollen!?! WTH??!? I am glad to have found this thread as I was SUPER nervous. I have NEVER experienced anything like this before.

By Friday night, I did experience chills and flu-like symptoms. Every day since Friday I have been religiously applying aloe and lidocain spray... when I shower I use Eucerine Calming Body Oil. I am going to start drinking more water instead of iced tea, try to elevate my foot when I can, continue with the topical treatments, take Advil more regularly and hope nothing else swells. UGH.

No more spray sunscreen for me!

On Monday, I kayaked for four hours on open water. I am a redhead and didnt use any sunblock. Stupid me. Today is Thursday and my arms are still swollen, but what concerns me most is that my forehead area is more swollen today than it has been the past couple of days. I have aloe gel, some kind of burn spray, and Tylenol. As well as cold compresses, which actually is making the pain worse on my head. I hope the swelling is a healing sign, like these posts suggest. Honestly, I was aiming to get just a LITTLE color (even pink over pasty was going to be fine with me). However, I will be just fine with no color at all moving forward. Days and days of pain and discomfort during my vacation is sooooo not worth it. Not to mention the irreversible damage I have caused my skin. To hell with all the tan, airbrushed bit***s in the magazine adverts. This week, I have learned that a "healthy glow" comes from winthin. Certainly not what corporate America has led us all to think is "healthy."

I got a sunburn yesterday while in PCB. My legs are swollen and my skin is tight today but the pain is much better. I have been taking ibuprofen and it does help and I have been using lotion with aloe Vera. The best relief has been from using an after sun gel with lidocaine in it. Also I didn't cover my legs up while I slept and kept the ceiling fan on, that felt really good.

I got severe sunburn the other day, so bad that my arms have blisters covering the wrists and edges of where your short sleeve shirt cuts off. My legs have been exposed as well and they're in more pain than my arms and face. My legs are swollen to the point where if I were to stand up it feels like sharp pains running through my muscles. When I'm standing, I can't stand still or I'm going to fall because of the excruciating pain. I put Aloe, other creams for sunburns, baths, but nothing really is working. I haven't tried putting a cold rag on my leg because anything cold touches the burned area, it tenses my leg up and hurts instead of soothes it. I'm on the third day of this agony, can't sleep because the pain keeps me up, goose bumps happen every 5 seconds or so and that just makes it worse. Even went to the hospital to at least see if they would prescribe me with a more stronger pain killer, waited 3 hours seeing everyone after me get admitted while I sit in the front aching with pain and still didn't get admitted or looked at. It's getting harder and harder to walk every couple hours. Hope this goes away soon this weekend, traumatized to go in the sun now..

As others have said, I'm so happy others have posted this information... 4 days ago, went out for about 4 hours in the sun. When younger, I was out in the sun all the time! Haven't been out in years. Spent 4 hours in just trunks and wow... Pain like I've never felt before. Entire chest, thighs, below the knees, shins, ankles.. PAIN & swelling like I cannot believe. First night, uncontrollable shivering and a fever... Was on vacation so didn't have a thermometer on hand, but laid in the tub for about an hour with cool water. shivering stopped enough to run to Walgreens for a thermometer. After shivering stopped (and with thermomster now in hand), temperature was still 101 (I know, not very high.. but I'm sure it was much higher 90 minutes earlier)... 4 days have passed, and still red, swelling, and plenty of pain. using aloe vera gel and two other products with aloe vera in them: Solarcaine w/Lidocaine (blue can, aerosol) goes on like aerosol hair spray, then a Vaseline "spray & go" lotion gel (air compressed can)... Cannot really tolerate the rubbing of the actual aloe vera gel on, but the spray on lotion (Vaseline) just needs to be gently rubbed and spread around.. I think this has my vote for working, cuz I can't really tell if the Solarcaine is doing much for me.

This post is not for a drip of sympathy, I don't mean to gross people out or make anyone feel bad -- its just posted out of pure gratitude for the others that have done the same. It gave me much peace of mind that this experience will end eventually and just wanted to share my story.

Let it be stated-- I put sunscreen on my face which didn't get burnt at all... I wanted a 'little color' on the lower part of my body so decided not to apply any sunscreen below my chin and learned the results the hard way...

I feel your pain,
-me

Hi Maura,

Your post is from a month ago, but states 3 days prior to your post, you experienced a really bad sunburn. I hope you're feeling better and would enjoy hearing some details if you would be willing to share. I'm assuming you've had some relief by now, but do u mind mentioning how long it took -- thnx so much

I did this exact thing this week, burnt from the chest down as I wanted a 'little color' which later developed into beetroot red and heat stroke! 3 days later swollen like crazy and still in agony, hospital gave me painkillers but pretty much said suck it up, which I will, I feel so silly! I never imagined sunburn could feel this bad.