Solar Uticaria - Or Becoming a Drow, Real Life

Solar Uticaria. It sounds almost like the Latin name of a fish or sun-loving plant. It’s my new favorite phrase of the week, however, because I have some personal experience with this. Gross experience, which is my favorite kind.

About a month ago, I went for my usual lunch bike ride out in the desert for a couple hours. I’ve been doing this for several years without any problem, but something special happened on this day. During the ride, I started noticing nausea, burning along my exposed skin bits, headache, and a profound weakness that seemed unusual. It wasn’t particularly hot and the UV index wasn’t that high. It surprised me a little, but I turned back for home thinking that I just had a touch of sunburn and some mild dehydration.

When I got home, I found that any exposed part of me had erupted with tiny hives and was furiously itchy and brilliant red, weeping pus. Yummy, huh? Thinking that I had gotten a serious burn, I immediately treated with raw aloe vera and coconut oil but it didn’t seem to act like a simple sunburn. In fact, four days later, it was still weeping and inflamed. After about a week, I went out for another ride. Again, it was only about 80 degrees, mild UV, 0900 in the morning. Within twenty minutes of being outside, however, BAM. Hives. Inflammation. Pus. Added benefit was that this time, the hives started to bleed.

I switched to all hypoallergenic soaps, detergents, clothing, shampoo, but BAM. A week later on a ride within 20 minutes, weeping burns were back. Now, it was even worse. Even just going outside to get the mail caused my skin to burn within seconds of stepping into sunlight.

Oh dear.

After a little research, I discovered that a couple interesting events seemed to have aligned in my life and the earth’s life to cause such a violent reaction.

As you all know, a few weeks ago, scientists recorded the largest ever hole in the ozone layer over the Arctic circle. The hole was so large, it even covered part of the Northern Hemisphere. The ozone layer absorbs most of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation (almost 99%!) that would damage lifeforms on earth. It completely removes UV-C radiation and significantly reduces UV-B radiation that can cause immunosuppression, cataracts, sunburns, and trigger skin cancer. Here is a time-lapse image of the ozone patterns last month: OZONE HOLE.

So. I have a hypothesis.

I’ve been exposed to a lot of sensitizing chemicals in this particular flesh frame. Hydrogen sulfide, isocyanates, formaldehyde. You get the idea. My hypothesis is that my skin was permanently damaged or altered with these chemical exposures that triggered an immune response under UV-C exposure making me essentially a Drow. Yes, that’s right. And now this:

Now when I leave the house, I have to wear long sleeves, UPF 50+ type, sunglasses to avoid the bleeding hives/radiation burn look (which is so last season). I don’t mind terribly though. I always did like the night better anyway. And I look super cool in my lavender hoody. Soon, I’ll start worshipping Llolth and get a nice little cave somewhere to settle down.