How dangerous is photosensitivity?

How dangerous is photosensitivity?

Photosensitivity reduces your natural defenses and elevates your risk for damage from the sun’s harmful rays. If you have a photosensitivity reaction due to medications or a medical condition, it can also potentially increase your risk of developing skin cancer.

What happens if you have photosensitivity?

Photosensitivity can cause rashes, fever, fatigue, joint pain, and other symptoms in people with both cutaneous (skin) and systemic lupus. Excess exposure to UV rays is a common trigger for increased disease activity (flare) of both cutaneous lupus and systemic lupus.

What does photosensitivity mean?

Listen to pronunciation. (FOH-toh-SEN-sih-TIH-vih-tee) A condition in which the skin becomes very sensitive to sunlight or other forms of ultraviolet light and may burn easily. Photosensitivity usually causes a rash or sunburn, especially on areas of the skin that are exposed to ultraviolet light.

What causes photosensitivity?

Photosensitivity, sometimes referred to as a sun allergy, is an immune system reaction that is triggered by sunlight. Sunlight can trigger immune system reactions. People develop itchy eruptions or areas of redness and inflammation on patches of sun-exposed skin.

Is photosensitivity a disease?

Photosensitivity disorders of the skin are conditions in which an abnormal cutaneous response occurs after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation or visible light.

What can trigger photosensitive epilepsy?

Photosensitive seizures are triggered by flashing or flickering lights. These seizures can also be triggered by certain patterns such as stripes. Photosensitive seizures can fall under several categories, including tonic-clonic, absence, myoclonic and focal seizures.

How do you know if you have photosensitive epilepsy?

What Are the Symptoms of Photosensitive Epilepsy?

1. Loss of consciousness and patient falls to the ground.
2. Muscles contract and body stiffens.
3. Patient cries out.
4. Breathing pattern changes.
5. Patient bites tongue and inside of cheeks.
6. Limbs jerk or twitch as muscles tighten and relax.
7. Loss of bladder control.

What is the meaning of photosensitivity?

the quality of being photosensitive. abnormal sensitivity of the skin to ultraviolet light, usually following exposure to certain oral or topical drugs or to other sensitizing chemicals and resulting in accelerated burning and blistering of the skin. Words nearby photosensitivity. Origin of photosensitivity.

What is photosensitive rash?

1 : sensitive to the action of radiant energy photosensitive paper. 2 : being or caused by an abnormal reaction to sunlight photosensitive rashes.

What happens if you are exposed to too much sunlight?

In addition, prolonged exposure to sunlight, even in normal skin, leads to skin aging and cancer. These effects are accelerated in patients who have photosensitivity. Phototoxicity is a severely exaggerated reaction to sunlight caused by a new chemical in the skin.

What are risk factors for photosensitivity in HIV infection?

Photosensitivity is increasingly recognized as a common development in HIV-positive patients. Risk factors for photosensitivity in this group include African American ethnicity and treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).