San Antonio Lime Disease
I started noticing these dark spots splattered all over the top of my hands. I have had these spots for about 2 weeks now. They don’t itch and they aren’t bumpy. They are just a darker pigmentation. I do have sensitive skin but this is something I had never seen before. They always say that if you notice new spots on your skin, see a doctor. So after a week of these spots not disappearing or fading away, I decided to set an appointment with a dermatologist. I hadn’t seen a dermatologist in 10 years so I had to go search for one on my insurance. I searched the Humana website for physicians. I didn’t realize how hard it was to see a doctor. The first one I called referred me to another doctor. That doctor was not on my insurance. I called another and they weren’t accepting new patients. I called another and they couldn’t see me for another 3 months. Finally, I found Dr. Yanase. They were able to see me the next week. I told them my symptons and they asked me if I had a history of skin cancer in my family. That freaked me out a bit but I suppose that is standard.
So I went to my appointment today and after waiting for only about 10 minutes, Dr. Yanase was able to see me. He was very nice, very professional. He asked me if I had been out in the sun lately. I told him that I do run regularly and it is usually in the sun. He asked me if I had squeezed limes or lemons recently. Actually, I squeezed limes and lemons on a regular basis whether making micheladas, a marinade or margaritas. “What about mangos?” he asked. Yes, I make a mango smoothie about 3 times a week! What does this have to do with anything? He told me that the juice from the fruits that splatters onto my skin intensifies the sun so it makes my skin darker in those areas, more than normal. “I like to call it the San Antonio Lime Disease” he says. Wow, never heard of that before. I felt a bit silly.
The medical name for this is just hyper pigmentation. Basically, I need to wash my hands better and get the juice off my skin before going into the sun. If you think about it, it makes sense. Usually, after squeezing these fruits, I get into my car and drive. The sun does shine onto my hands while driving the wheel. Or I go outside to run. Anyways, apparently this is very common in individuals in San Antonio. I thought it was sort of amusing.
Rose
April 15th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Hi! I just came back from a doctor’s appointment and found out I have same Lime juice skin hyper pigmentations. They look just like yours! I wanted to ask you how long it took for your pigmentations to go away? My doctor said 2-3 weeks…
Angela
April 15th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
It took me only about a week. But I did wait 2 weeks before I saw a doctor so 2-3 weeks sounds about right. Good luck!