A woman named Morgan Moore never expected the lime juice in her margaritas to cause so much damage to the skin on her hands. She was mixing drinks at a barbecue and had squeezed more than 30 limes.
After mixing the drinks, she went out into the sun to join her guests, and it turned out to be a terrible mistake. Moore says that she rinsed off her hands after squeezing the limes, but she didn’t use soap or put on any sunscreen. She also says that she was only in the sun for about 30-45 minutes.
But the next day, the skin on her hands bubbled up, and she had blisters everywhere. Although Moore was quite surprised by this reaction, it is evidently pretty common.
Dr. Timothy Jochen, who is a dermatologist, said that the citrus agents found in fruits like limes react with your skin and make it more sensitive to the sun. Doctors say that even cutting up a few limes can get quite a bit of lime juice on your skin, and rinsing them off isn’t always enough.
This reaction can also happen with other citrus fruits, like oranges and lemons, but it is most common with limes. Moore was barely able to use her hands for two weeks, but she is thankfully back to school and expected to recover well. Doctors say it may take up to six weeks for the burns to completely heal.