Three weird ways the sun affects your body (besides sunburn)

Reader’s Digest: A better night’s sleep? Happier mood? A strange rash? Spending time in the sun has upsides and downsides you’ve never heard of.
Red, blotchy skin: Years of unprotected sun exposure can lead to permanently red, blotchy skin, says Jason Reichenberg, MD, associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin’s Dell Medical School and chief of dermatology at Seton Healthcare Family in Austin. As you age, the sun thins your skin and loosens the structure around your blood vessels, causing them to dilate and generate red and brown areas, primarily across the cheeks and neck. “All of the building blocks of the skin melt, almost like an egg,” Dr. Reichenberg says. When this “melting” process happens, the collagen in your skin spreads out, allowing the blood vessels to appear through the skin. And unfortunately, this condition is irreversible once it begins. “You can’t un-cook an egg,” Dr. Reichenberg says. Make sure you never do these 10 things after getting a sunburn.
A better night’s sleep: A 2013 study from the University of Colorado at Boulder found that natural light from the sun regulates your circadian rhythm, or internal biological clock, and standardizes your sleep cycle. According to the study, your natural sleep schedule coincides with the timing of the sunrise and sunset. When you regularly expose yourself to sunlight, your body can properly set its internal clock to align more closely with the natural light cycle, and you can count on a solid night’s sleep to carry you through your day. Stop making these 18 sunscreen mistakes right now!
Strained eyesight (or worse): For many, vision problems are an unavoidable consequence of aging, but research shows that exposure to the sun can make these issues even more severe, particularly for people over the age of 40. According to a 2011 study by researchers at Fordham University, the same UV rays that can cause harm to your skin can also damage your eyes, increasing the risk of developing cataracts or other vision problems. In serious cases, this can lead to complete blindness, the study says. Fortunately, the researchers offer a simple fix to the issue: sunglasses. This is the after-sunburn routine dermatologists always follow.