Sunscreen Allergy...Reaction in Eye

Just wondering if anyone has had this reaction...one month ago I put Waterbabies sunscreen on my 1-year old.  about 30 minutes later I noticed that one eye was swollen, her skin on the forehead above the swollen eye was splotchy, and her nose was running a lot...only on the side of the swollen eye.  I assumed she had been bitten and gave her a small dose of liquid benedryl.  The reaction went away within minutes.  Last weekend I put sunscreen on my daughter again and immediately put her in the car to go to the lake.  Within 20 minutes she began having the same reaction.  I was able to use benedryl to get rid of the reaction again.  This is when I realized that before she had been reacting to the sunscreen and not a bug bite.  I decided that I should use a sunscreen stick on her face instead of lotion...I assumed that when I had put sunscreen on her face, I had got some in her eye.  I was at the store tonight and picked up a Waterbabies sunscreen stick...packaging intact.  I let my daughter hold the sunscreen stick in its package, and by the time I got to the checkout, her eye was swollen, she had splotchy skin, and her nose was running.  I immediately took the sunscreen stick away, gave my daughter to my husband, and returned the sunscreen stick to its shelf.  By the time I got back to the checkout, my daughter's eye was almost back to normal...within 5 minutes she was fine.  I'm wondering if there is some chemical she's inhaling?  She never came into contact with the sunscreen stick...just the package.

Hi,

Just happened upon this...  I actually have the same reaction to sunscreen on or near my face!  I have a very hard time using any sunscreen on my face at all.  My eyes first will start to burn (which I now know means a reaction is coming so I can wash it off right away), then the skin around my eyes gets red, then they slowly swell and can be very itchy.  I also have the same reaction to Benzoyl Peroxide on or near my eyes (learned that one as a teen).  I need Benadryl and a light coat of cortisone for it to go away.  Believe it or not, what I now use as sunscreen for my face is mineral make-up.  It contains natural zinc, which has a natural SPF.  Is it perfect?  No; but it's better than nothing, or getting a burn.  It has to be reapplied mnay times during the day for it to be effective though.  I've also heard of some people using straight zinc (the white stuff lifeguards used to put on their nose) but even when applied lightly and rubbed in really makes anyone look ghost-like and just odd in general.

Best of luck to you.

Susan

Post Edited (SusanInNJ) : 9/7/2008 7:30:43 AM (GMT-6)

Here is the link to the post I was referring to:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=7&m=503501&g=508176#m508176