A woman has ended up with sun poisoning after jetting off to Europe for just two days – proving that Brits really aren’t getting enough rays this summer.
During the second and final day of her solo trip, Tamara Harris began to notice her eyes swelling up.
The 24-year-old, who is from Southampton, also felt extremely dizzy and had a small lump on her head.
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Assuming that she’d likely just been bitten by some kind of insect, she went to the pharmacy for help and bought a cream.
But while flying home, Tamara started feeling even more unwell.
Once she’d touched down in the UK, she rushed to A&E and it became apparent that she had come down with sun poisoning.
“When I woke up the day after getting back home, my whole face was swollen and I couldn’t open my eyes,” Tamara told Need To Know.
“I went straight to A&E and got given steroids and chlorphenamine [antihistamine] tablets.
“My face was swollen for a few days and I had to take three days off of work.”
The condition is caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet light and can cause inflammation of the skin, blisters, headaches, dizziness and nausea.
Tamara, who is an office manager, had been to Budapest and feels her experience of the city was tainted by her illness.
She said: “I felt quite light-headed on my holiday.”
“Luckily the main side effects happened as soon as I arrived home.
“I don’t know what I would have done if it happened while I was away as I was on a solo trip.”
Tamara travelled to Budapest on 6 July, returning home on 8 July.
She is only just starting to feel better now (11 July).
The swelling has also begun to subside with only small areas of her face still affected.
She said: “I’m a very tanned person already due to travelling a lot and sometimes forget to put sun cream on my face.
“The number one piece of advice I would give is to make sure you always use sun cream.
“Especially when the UV is high, make sure you use it because it was such a scary experience and you’ve got to protect your skin at all costs.”
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