Can you be allergic to sun screen? If so, what is a really really pale person to do when they have to be in the sun?

Use physical barriers; long-sleeved light-weight shirt, broad-brimmed hat, linen pants.

Many sunscreens have nasty ingredients in them…they have to block powerful UV rays. And not all sunscreens are equal. Sunscreen reviews

Check out http://www. http://magellans.com and http://www.travelsmith.com/ catalogs

You could easily be allergic to a certain ingredient of that particular sunscreen – check the label, pay attention, take notes and I’m sure you’ll find one that works for you. If in doubt, check with a dermatologist.

It may not necessarily be a reaction to the sunscreen. Are you sure that you didn’t contact some poison ivy, sumac or oak? Canoing + outdoors + itchy rash 24 hours later… Does your arm look like this or this?

Since you “slathered on plenty of sun screen” I would expect that if you were truly allergic, the entire area that you had covered with sunscreen would show a rash, not just your arm.

I myself am allergic to sunscreen. Its actually quite simple to deal with, though it can be quite spendy. There are hypoallergenic sunscreens you’re able to buy, personally though, my favorite has been Mary Kay.

However, you could be allergic to different ingredients in the sun screen, so I would have to suggest carefully reading the bottle that you had, then trying a hypoallergenic brand. If you don’t have the same reaction to the hypoallergenic brand, either stick with it, or move to something you like more without the same ingredients, in order to isolate what you’re allergic to.

Yea, you could be allergic to the sunscreen, my father is I know (I’m not thank God), I have red hair so that’s really good to know, but for him Bullfrog seems to work.. just a thought, it might work for you than whatever you had used.

If you aren’t sure if you’re allergic to the sunscreen or not, just put a patch of it on your arm and rub it around, but don’t go outside and see if you break out.

I’m quite sure that i did not come in contact with any poison ivy sumac or oak. The places that got itchy and red are places that i’ve had reaction at before, I think the skin in these areas are more sensitive than others. I had a few small red patches in other places but the main reaction site was my arms.