New York City designer Haley Peacock suffered second-degree burns on both hands after squeezing limes to make margaritas before spending hours in the sun. Her blisters later swelled to the size of golf balls and ping-pong balls following the reaction.
Peacock, a Brooklyn designer, documented the ordeal in a TikTok video that has received more than 1.5 million views. She was left holding up bandaged hands ahead of a family event.
"Now both of my hands are covered in second-degree burns," Peacock said while holding up a hand wrapped in a medical bandage. "And I have my grandpa's funeral tomorrow, so I'm gonna be pulling up like this."
The condition is medically known as phytophotodermatitis, or "margarita burn." The agonizing skin reaction occurs when citrus compounds such as lime juice interact with ultraviolet light from the sun.
"Please please please, do not squeeze citrus and then go lay in the sun," Peacock warned in her video. "And if you do, please wash your hands with soap like 17 times."
How the Lime Juice Reaction Happened
Peacock suffered the burns last month while celebrating her boyfriend's birthday with a group of friends at an upstate home. She had offered to make a large batch of margaritas for about 25 people who were attending the gathering.
When she went inside to prepare the drinks, Peacock realized there was no juicer or basic citrus squeezer available. With no other option, she used her bare hands to squeeze about 30 limes.
"After I was finished squeezing all the limes, I ran my hands under the sink," Peacock explained in an update video shared last week. She said she simply rinsed her hands with water without using soap.
"I didn't think much of it - my hands didn't feel sticky or anything, and I knew we were just going to be by the pool and in the pool all day, so it didn't really cross my mind," Peacock added.
She then spent hours soaking up the sun by the pool with her friends. Peacock noted that she has fair skin and is cautious about sunscreen, which prevented the rest of her body from getting sunburned.
Swelling and Blisters Erupt After Sun Exposure
The rest of the day appeared completely normal after Peacock got out of the pool and took a shower. Her hands showed no initial signs of redness, swelling, or itching.
"It wasn't until the next morning, when I woke up, and I looked at my hands and they felt weird, they felt swollen, and they were kinda sort-of red that I was like... something's weird," Peacock recalled.
She took a photo of her hand at breakfast, which showed faint red rings forming around each of her fingers. As she drove home, the condition of her hands grew worse with each passing hour.
Fearing an infection, Peacock spent that night frantically searching her symptoms online. A search for "delayed sunburn" brought up information about citrus and sun exposure, making her realize what had caused the reaction.
By the following morning, her hands erupted in rapidly growing blisters, prompting her to go straight to an urgent care clinic.
Medical Diagnosis and Painful Recovery
While Peacock waited to see a healthcare professional, fluid-filled bubbles continued swelling across her thumb and between her fingers. The treating doctor confessed she had never heard of phytophotodermatitis before, but confirmed Peacock had second-degree burns and prescribed a cream and pills.
Although Peacock hoped the burns had peaked, the skin damage worsened over the following days. She stopped sharing photos of her hands in her video, explaining that the damage had become too gruesome to show.
She described her hands as looking like they had been infected with "poison gas," with massive discoloration. She reported blisters the size of golf balls on her thumb and near her ring finger, while her left hand remained discolored and wrapped in gauze.
"It's not pretty, I honestly have pretty limited use in my hands so my boyfriend basically has to do everything for me - he's an angel," Peacock said while showing her hand in a pink cheetah-print protective wrap.
Medical Experts Explain Margarita Burn
Dermatologists state that phytophotodermatitis is a common summer hazard caused by handling certain plant compounds before entering the sun.
"I commonly see phytophotodermatitis when somebody has been barbecuing on a sunny afternoon and having drinks with limes in them, like margaritas or beers with a lime squeezed in," Dermatologist Melissa Piliang told the Cleveland Clinic. "Anything where they're cutting and squeezing limes and splashing the juice on themselves and then enjoying the sunshine."
New York dermatologist Samer Jaber told CBS News that lime juice can trigger a "red, itchy, blistering rash" wherever it touches skin. He explained that the reaction often forms irregular shapes or streak-like marks tracing where juice dripped.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, limes are particularly associated with margarita burn during summer months, but other foods such as fennel, figs, celery, and carrots can also trigger phytophotodermatitis.
