I have bright red angry streaks on a sunburn. The sunburn was originally bright red, no streaks, and never blistered. It occurred 4 days ago after 30-45 minutes of exposure in an area on my foot 2" long by 3" wide where the skin was exposed through my sandal. I didn't think to use sun screen since I wasn't planning to be out more than a few minutes. The other foot was sunburned but not as badly and did not form any streaks.

The redness of the sunburn is almost gone now, but as it healed, bright red streaks started forming and continued to get worse; although, today they seem to be about the same as yesterday, so I'm hoping the problem has reached its peak.

There was never any raised area. The streaks do not extend past the original sunburn, and do NOT appear to be infected (no blisters, no drainage). I've had flea bites (or maybe chiggers) on my feet in the past that looked a lot like this but not in streaks, and the bites itched like crazy; this does not itch. It does not hurt to touch it but hurts a bit to rub it, just like the original sunburn. I can't keep my foot inside my bath water because my foot feels like it's on fire if I get it in the hot water. It is NOT hot to the touch like the original sunburn was.

I've never seen anything like it, nor can I find anything on the web like it other than infected blisters, but I never had blisters or any other kind of skin opening with this, so I don't see how it could have gotten infected. I do have allergies to many things, including topical things. I used Epsom Salt in my bath water, and a little shampoo and conditioner ended up in the water which my foot touch occasionally, but I've never shown an allergy to any of these products. I may have used an insect repellent of Lemon Grass and Eucalyptus before I was burned (I'm allergic to Deet); I don't think I used it that morning but may have the night before.

I'm continuing to use a moisturizing lotion on it like I did for the sunburn. Is that the right treatment? Could this be an allergic reaction to that? (I wouldn't think so because I used the lotion on the whole top of my foot, not just that area, and I used it on the other foot which did not develop red streaks.)

I'm fairly confident that this will eventually go away of its own accord, but I'm mainly writing because I would like to know what this is and how to avoid it in the future.