Q. Two weeks ago my husband and I started out on a road trip across the country. At the same time I started on a course of the antibiotic doxycycline. I had been warned that it makes one quite photosensitive, but not that one can get a sunburn through glass! I got a nasty burn through the car windows and was in misery.
A. Most people don’t need to worry about a sunburn through the car windows. The glass blocks the UV-B rays that are responsible for ordinary sunburn. It lets damaging UV-A rays through, though, so someone taking a drug such as doxycycline that increases photosensitivity should wear sunscreen or long sleeves when riding in the car.
