Photosensitivity
Dear Karen,
I've been doing well on your low-sal diet, for 4 months now, and it's been a life-changer: THANK YOU! Wanted to know more about photosensitivity and why it is that my skin upon even the shortest amount of initial sun exposure during winter will react with weeklong suffering of sunburn inflammation For ex, it is winter here in New York City, and there was a beautifully sunny temperate day, at about 2:30pm, I put sunscreen on where my skin was exposed (face and neck), and went for a little 20-min vitamin-D run. Boy was that a bad idea, taking it's course through bouts of itching, stinging, shedding of dead skin and even pain. Careful, subsequent exposure 9 days after was much better, but how can I navigate this better? Many thanks for your insight.
Hi Nancy, happy to help! I've had some experience personally with photosensitivity, and I found it was linked to fears around sun exposure, skin ageing and sun damage (it happened on a day I worried about getting sun spots, just before going for a walk!) ... My skin prickled and itched like it was on fire, after 5 minutes in the sun. We get so many negative messages (from the media etc) about sun exposure and the body can begin to react inappropriately when out in the sun. I found a change in thoughts worked quickly to reverse it (it worked in a matter of days), just with changing my attitude towards being out in the sun, and it has never come back. I also used to "hate winter" and I ended up with severe cold sensitivity until I learnt to "love winter" and truly appreciate cold weather. It might be different for you but it's worth investigating any underlying beliefs and thoughts.
I like how you are positive about sun exposure by calling it your "vitamin D run" - this is good, linking the sun with vitamin D is a positive message you are sending to your body. You could also see if you have any fears or judgements about skin ageing, ageing in general, or fears about being outdoors in winter, negativity towards winter, or any negativity on the specific days when the photosensitivity reaction occurs. It's easy to prevent it from happening when you identify the underlying trigger. But worrying about it and being more careful can make it worse. Let me know if you have any more questions or need any more help with this!