I hadn't heard about a connection between global warming and lower immune systems. (I always get immune boosts in the summer...?) I have heard about - and experienced - the connections between stress and lower immune systems, though.

I hadn't heard of this connection, but will concur abt sunscreen:

You really, really, really need to use it. At least a number 15, anytime you're out (I'm a bit skeptical of the higher numbers)

Said by a Brown Eyed, Brown haired woman, who resisted sunscreen for years. But I was raised in tropical Rio de Janeiro, was sunburned quite often in childhood (had nicknames like 'Tomato-Face' 'cause I was often so red), so after realizing I was particularly at risk, I started using it pretty religiously. Also, I'm a beachgoer & live close to the beach, but after learning this, I usually restrict my beaching to at least after 3 pm.

You might consider (if scheduling allows) to garden before 11 AM & after 3 PM, both times are thought to be safer in that the sun tends to be less intense, esp. in summer!

yowz! i haven't been on the forums in awhile, but what an appropriate subject for me to comment on...

since moving to the blasted desert, i have had a TON of sun-related complications. not only do i have a strict lotion regiment, but i got lips so chapped that applying chapstick sealed in a staph infection. by the time i got in to see a GP as a new patient, this thing had been raging for a month and it took another month look normal.

THEN i got a nasty rash that i'm still waiting for the biopsy results for. as posited by the derm., it could be one of three sun-related conditions: lupus, eczema or polymorphous light eruptions.

i've never burned in my life and i have darker skin so sun had never been a problem in oregon. i didn't start wearing daily SPF30 until march-ish but by then it was too late. i only walk 4-5 blocks to my building, but i guess that was enough. now i use SPF30 every day, wear a hat and carry an umbrella (like the asian that i am) and/or wear a long sleeved shirt. :P i'm on 60mg/day of prednisone and heavy steroid creams for the rash. i'm too dang young and attractive to have a gross skin condition!

-ming
WEAR SUNSCREEN!

Hi Diane,

I assume that your definition of canker sore is exclusively in the mouth. I have never heard of sun causing those if that's where they are. My wife gets cold sores on her lips. If she doesn't wear sunscreen on her face and especially some kind of lip balm with SPF 15 or higher, she will get cold sores on her lips every time she is in the sun.

I hope that you are able to find a remedy for those canker sores. I suffered from them for years until I got on a good antidepressant. They immediately went away.

Larry

I get canker sores when I eat almonds. It's an almond allergy for me. Mixed nuts too if almonds are in there with them. Even if I avoid the almonds. I suspect something in the husk because I have no trouble with almond milk. I know three other people who also cannot eat almonds or they get these annoying canker sores.

But recently I went to the beach and my mouth broke out... again. This is a familiar memory - coming back from beach vacations with a sore mouth. I think sun exposure must have something also to do with it but have not pinned down why. I did not eat any tree nuts that I know of. Could it be something in the sunscreen? or just dehydration? Curious.

Sharon, sorry about the health issues but this is a Houseplant Forum, and the original post was started twelve years ago.