Red Heads! I Need Your Help!! and Fair Skinned Folk

Well, I have the fairest of skin and red hair. So, when I am hot (in most cases when I exercise), my husband literally freaks out, thinking I am going to pass out at any second and I feel fine! I also turn purple in cold weather, yes purple! LOL! So, make sure he is well hydrated, wearing sunscreen and has a hat on as much as he can.

He had on a long sleeve so he may have been reacting to the heat. When I get hot, certain parts of my body turn RED. You are putting sunblock on right? Just sayin, I'm a red head and you have to use a good brand of like 100 spf. I used a store brand and it didn't work :(
When you get hot, your body regulates temp by sending more blood to the surface (it dilates your veins) for cooling.
You can have his blood pressure checked or see if he sweats normally. Sometimes if people don't sweat as much as others they will turn RED red.
I know what your talking about, I've heard quite a few people over the years say they turn bright hydrant red. If your worried have the doc check his blood pressure and pay attention next time to see how much he sweats when he's hot. Look at his arms when he's not hot or cold, can you see his veins really clear? If he has shallow veins (close to his skin) then that may be why too.When he gets hot, they would come up closer to the skin to cool his body temperature. Shallow veins is nothing to worry about either, it's just individual traits.

ALWAYS put sunblock on him. 20 mins is enough to get me sunburned so I wanted to throw that in since you get tan (lucky you :D) and are not used to pale skin.

Try the wet kids sunscreen, maybe it will work to not trap heat. You can't just not put sunscreen on. Some may get away with it, but I know I sure can't.

I'm a redhead.
I've found that sunscreen can act as a barrier that traps in the heat, and actually our pediatrician confirmed that for me a while back when I asked about sunscreen for my daughter. It's much more helpful to keep him in the shade whenever possible than it is to cover him with sunscreen every time he's outdoors. It's tricky, because you're often moving between sun and shade. We use hats on my daughter, and lightweight short-sleeved (rather than tank) shirts, because at least then the shoulders are covered. Shoulders tend to burn pretty badly. Mine have blistered many times over the years.

Whenever I engage in physical activity outdoors on a hot, sunny day, my face turns so red it's almost purple. But when I'm at rest in the sun, it only turns pinkish, maybe red if it's really hot. Was he moving around a lot? he may have just been hot. Continue to be mindful of keeping him cool with water, shade, hats, breathable clothing materials, etc. Definitely buy one of those sunshade thingies for the beach, or anytime you plan on being in the sun for a long time. If you had sunscreen on him it might have made him more hot, or he might be allergic to one of the ingredients, but I have a feeling it was just heat.

Check these out, we used to used them for our daughter: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

My daughter does the same thing. Last time we had her out at a bbq. She had on sunscreen and a thin long sleeve shirt. She turned so red people started freaking out. We took her inside for a while to cool off and after about 20 minutes she was fine. Mind you we live in Florida and were visiting in Missouri, so it was much cooler there than here. I don't know why sometimes this happens and sometimes not. I would chalk it up to dehydration but she nearly always had a water in her hand. It's really unsettling, I think some people just flush more than others. However, when ever she starts hitting that super red I take her somewhere cool, just to be safe.

I'm a redhead with extremely fair skin. I turn bright red pretty easily. Get hot, bright red. Ten minutes without sunblock, burned.

I don't just burn easily but also am prone to rashes and blisters from the sun (even if I'm not burned). The sun and I are not friends.

A key thing is having access to ice water. If I can drink ice water regularly, it seems to help prevent me from looking so red. You might give that a try next time and see if it also helps him.

I'm a very pale red-head, and when I overheat I can turn a pretty intense red, almost purplish in thin areas. Sunburn will actually continue to redden over several hours after sun exposure, and not turn lighter for days.

So I'm guessing your little guy's capillaries, the tiny blood vessels just under the skin, expanded as much as they could to help him stay as cool as possible. Because of his fair skin, this redness really shows up. There are also at least a couple of different disorders in which the skin turns very red in response to heat, light, friction and other stimuli. But my guess is that he's just got young, delicate, responsive and translucent skin.

For future reference, a recent article in Science News magazine reported that when concentrated green tea was applied to sunburned skin, it actually limited the damage to the skin's DNA that can contribute to aging and future skin cancers. And one of the best sting-reducers for sunburn is white vinegar dabbed on as often as needed.

our daughter is a RED head, and yes we have noticed that her face tuns red out in the sun, after very little direct exposure, she also gets what looks like a sun burn that slowly fades to pink once she is out of the sun, any child should wear a hat when outside, but especially redheads. the red face and body is not a sign of heat exhaustion unless it comes with nausea and all the other usual symptoms. hispanics typically dont have sensitive skin, while redheads are on the complete opposite end of skin sensitivity. does this help ?
K. h.

I am also a mom with sun-friendly skin who has a very fair-skinned red-headed child.

My daughter (and my husband) flushes red as a result of the slightest exertion in the heat, which means I spend the summer with people asking me, "Is she okay?" And she is - it's just what she does. I make sure she takes breaks frequently in the shade and gets plenty of water. She still flushes deep red. So I've just accepted that this is her version of normal, and as long as there are no other signs of heat-related distress and she has been drinking water as she should, I don't worry.

Also, she is very sun-sensitive, so sunscreen is a must, but she also has skin that will turn red from irritation from the wrong sunscreen - based on our experience, high SPF mineral sunscreens or baby sunscreens are the least likely to cause a skin reaction which can be nearly indistinguishable from sunburn.

I have trained her to make peace with the idea that she will spend her outdoor time in hats. Fair skinned folk can sunburn their scalps right through their hair.

Have you changed laundry soap lately? Was the shirt freshly washed? Sometimes new soap plus sweat can cause a skin reaction for those with sensitive skin.

As for where to find a good hat - try REI or LL Bean. Or, if you can get your little guy excited about a cowboy hat, hit the IFA or a western shop. A real cowboy hat can be a bit pricey, but they're also really durable, which a hat needs to be if he's wearing it every day. Cabella's may very well have both western style hats and fishing hats to choose from.

I'm very fair skinned and I can get a sunburn in semi shaded areas within 30 minutes, even with sunscreen. I'm also more intolerant of heat... as in profuse sweating, redness over whole body from being too hot and feeling dizzy.

I've learned to stay inside as much as possible and limit outside to cloudy days or days after the sun is mostly down (like after 6pm).

If I have to go outside, I tend to get very cold wet washcloths and put it around my neck and over my head... I used a 3rd for my face when it gets too over h eated.

Ha. That's my husband as well. He turns beet red from heat (external or from exercise), embarrassment, and sunburn (an he will blister burn in the SHADE). It's often impossible to tell in the summer or heat if he's actually burning, or just hot.

Longsleeved Rashguards at all time in hot weather.

Why?

Double duty.

1) Protects from sunburn better than any sunscreen that wipes off and sweats off, and means less 'area' to apply (aka just his face, neck, hands on a regular basis... the hair on his legs protects his legs fairly decently, but if we're out all day in shorts he does his legs as well)

2) You pour water over the rashguard, and it keeps him cool better than bare skin (he's VERY sensitive to the heat). It takes some time for the water to evaporate, so he stays very cool as it's doing so.

NOTE: Rashguards are supposed to fit skintight, just like a leotard or girl's swimsuit NOT like a shirt. I see uncomfy kids walking about in wet flapping rashguards and just CRINGE. No one likes wet things flapping them.

Pink bunny skin answering here. I have covered up my entire life. Hats with brims, sunglasses, shirts on the beach. My grandson (redhead) and I got such a horrible burn in Norway two summers ago it took several months until our arms weren't sensitive to sunshine. (Ozone layer is gone over Norway.)
We use sunblock and try to avoid the sun as much as possible in the summertime.
He will always be a red head so you've got to train yourself to watch out for him.
It helps that I take vitamin D and a full compliment of B's. I also have lots of skin creams with A-D-E in them to compensate for sun burns, sun poisoning etc.

All my kids turned red from the heat. It had nothing to do with being fair skinned it was just the heat. A fair skinned person would not fair well in the sun. No one does well in the heat. My youngest is olive skinned, you have to look harder to notice but even she turns red if she gets hot.

I get splotchy. :(

Nope to some this is an abnormal shade of red. People have suggested I rush them to the hospital. The lighter the skin the more you notice it.

I am super, fair-skinned and I turn beet red in the sun as well. People ask me if I am feeling faint--lol. I would get him a flap-happy hat that covers the neck and head very well. Slather on the sunscreen and limit time in the sun. As long as he is drinking water throughout the day-always make it available, then he is fine. Its normal for red-heads and fair-skinned people to turn red easily. GL

M

Hi Megan!

EVERYBODY in my family is red haired and fair skinned!! It is a bit of a challenge because we tend to burn very fast and very bad! And a bad sunburn in youth, of course, can be a precurser to skin cancer later in life. Small doses of sun and LOTS of high SPF sunscreen with frequent reapplication! Hats are a must and sunglasses should be used regularly. When you use sunscreen, make sure you apply to the "unusual" areas - ears, back of the neck, feet (if barefoot). Fair skinned folks can get a super bad burn, very easily, when the under exposed parts of the body (think chest, tummy, upper thighs - parts usually covered by shirts and shorts) are in the sun for a period of time. I'm a "mean" grandma and make the kids wear t-shirts to the pool or Water World. In the cool water, they don't have a sense of how badly they are getting burrned. If you have a tendency to tan easily, you must be very vigilent with your little guy - he is the opposite of you! Best of luck!

I can be because he is fair-skinned. But, young children (and the elderly) are not able to fully regulate their body temperatures.

My daughter and I are the same way, so's my dad. It happens from activity or from heat. We turn BRIGHT red, so red you would think something was wrong. Nothing is. I would just keep an eye on him and keep doing what you're doing with protecting his sensitive skin.

I have a red heads complexion, pale, I burn easily I am very freckled...when I get hot like over heated hot my chest area will turn bright red as will my cheeks...it may just be the way his body reacts to being hot.