Cancer Council warning after Perth mother showed son’s severe reaction to sunscreen

A three-year-old boy got the shock of his life when his face erupted into blisters after an allergic reaction to sunscreen.

Perth mum Carmen McNamara said her son’s face broke out into ‘bumpy, red and very itchy’ blotches after a common brand of sun cream was put on him.

Images of the boy showed his face swollen with bright red blemishes that resembled a ‘proper chemical burn’.

Images of the boy showed his face with bright red blemishes that resembled severe burn marks (pictured)

Perth mum Carmen McNamara (pictured) said her son’s face broke out into ‘bumpy, red and very itchy’ blotches after sunscreen was put on him

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One per cent of sunscreen users will have a bad reaction to the product (pictured, revelers in Coogee Beach on Australia Day)

Ms McNamara said her son was ‘beside himself’ after his face swelled up after using the familiar sunscreen brand.

One particular nasty blemish covered most of his right cheek. 

‘(His skin) was raised, bumpy, red, really itchy, like a proper chemical burn,’ she told 7News.

Sally Blane from the Cancer Council said one per cent of users will have a bad reaction to sunscreen. 

‘Sunscreen is not a suit of armour, it doesn’t ever provide 100 per cent protection,’ Sally Blane from the Cancer Council said

‘Sunscreen is not a suit of armour, it doesn’t ever provide 100 per cent protection,’ Ms Blane said.

The Council recommended Australians should use other forms of sun safety besides sun cream.

The advice included wearing a hat, shirt and sunglasses as well as sunscreen – but also to seek shade. 

Children under six months should not wear sunscreen and should be kept out of the sun.  

Bad reactions to sunscreen are rare and stem from an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the cream, a Cancer Council report said. 

Some people may react to a fragrance, preservative, UV absorber or another component of the sun protection.

The Cancer Council recommended Australians should use other forms of sun safety besides sun cream  (pictured, Lake Hume near Albury in NSW)

Aussies are advised to wear a hat, shirt, sunglasses and sun cream – but also advised to seek shade (pictured, beachgoers at Balmoral Beach in Sydney)

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It comes as public health research revealed two out of three Australians will get skin cancer in their lives. 

‘More than two thirds of Australians will be treated for the most common skin cancers in their lifetime,’ the 2022 report said.

‘Rates [have increased] by up to six per cent a year over the past three decades.’