It was about 3-4 months ago. I had taken tennis class which forced me to spend a good 30-50 minutes of being exposed to the sun. I made the crucial mistake of not putting on sunscreen before every class meeting, so eventually I got sunburned. Being sunburned before, I didn't pay much attention to it. I applied sunscreen the next day, and continued class. However this time, I came back home with rashes all over my forearms and neck. My whole face was swollen and red. I blamed the sunscreen lotion, and assumed I was allergic to it. I discontinued its use, and the rashes gradually subsided that day. I went to class again the next day, without the sunscreen, and found out it gave the same effect (swollen face, rashes on arms & neck). The peeling wouldn't stop either. If I counted correctly, I had peeled off my face over 4 times during that duration.
I went to the doctor about a week later, and they simply told me it was an allergy with suspicions of a bee sting. Then they prescribed me some steroid for my asthma as a precaution, and Benadryl. The Benadryl stopped the swelling and itching. Now there was just the case of the constant peeling and dry skin. I purchased body butter lotion to take care of the dry skin.
Eventually it all calmed down, but now it seems that my skin has a different texture and color. On areas that had not been sunburned, it feels a lot smoother and looks a bit more colored. But compared to the area that experienced the burn, its the complete opposite. I would assume that things would go back to normal after 3-4 months, as skin renews itself every 28 days. But so far none after that incident.
Heres a picture before:
And heres a recent picture:
I doubt its the lighting of the camera, since my friends have also noticed that I've gotten ghostly pale over a period of 2 weeks of not seeing each other.
Has anyone experienced something similar to this? If so, would I be able to achieve my natural skin texture and tone again?
