Cough, hoarseness, headaches - when such symptoms appear in autumn or winter, we usually suspect that these are the beginnings of flu or cold. However, these unpleasant ailments may not be the first signs of illness, but a reaction of the body to dry air in our homes. So before you reach for a syrup or tablets, ventilate your apartment properly.
When temperatures fall outside, many of us willingly turn up the power with which radiators heat. This pleasant heat, however, has its price - and we do not mean bills here, but health, because heating can harm it. It's all because many of us overheat our flats, and also don't believe them or do it too rarely. As a result, indoor air parameters are far from the optimal ones, i.e. temperature between 20 and 22oC and humidity at the level of 40-60%. What are the consequences of this?
Painful throat, dry eye
Dried air has a negative effect mainly on the mucous membrane lining our respiratory tract. As a result, we feel scratching in our throat, coughing, hoarseness and discomfort during swallowing. The nose mucosa, which dries and shrinks, and sometimes even bleeds, is not very good. All this leads to a reduction in our body's ability to defend itself against attacks by microorganisms. Dried air in the house also badly endures our eyes - because often conjunctivitis dries out and develops their inflammation, as well as the so-called dry eye syndrome. Such ailments are manifested by redness and tearing of eyes, cause increased sensitivity to light and the impression that sand is under the eyelids. Excessively high temperatures in the apartment, especially in the bedroom, can also cause sleep problems.
Ventilate and moisturize
For your health and wellbeing it is worth controlling both the temperature and humidity in your home. In order to restore its quality, it is necessary to open windows and regularly ventilate the apartment - regardless of the weather outside. It is also good to moisten them - for this purpose we can buy a specialized device, but the relief will also be brought by simply hanging a special container filled with water on a radiator or hanging damp towels on the radiators.
Look into the throat
If we have taken care to keep the air warm and humid, and the nose blockade and infections are still returning, the culprit should look somewhere else. In the case of the youngest - in the throat. This is where the tonsils, or clusters of lymphatic tissue, are found, which support the destruction of pathogenic microorganisms and thus our immune system. It happens, however, that as a result of recurrent infections, allergies or esophageal and pharyngeal reflux there is a reaction hypertrophy of the tonsils in the palate and pharyngeal as well as upper respiratory tract blockade and chronic inflammatory development. This problem occurs mainly in children between three and ten years of age.
If we suspect that hypertrophy of the tonsils may be responsible for recurrent infections in children, it is worth going with her to the otolaryngologist, who will examine the baby and determine whether surgery is necessary, which consists of two main procedures - adenotomy or tonsillotomy. The first involves the complete removal of the pharyngeal tonsils in the nasopharynx, while the second involves the reduction or trimming of the palatinal tonsils in the middle throat. The procedure itself is minimally invasive, lasts from several to 30 minutes and usually on the same day you can leave the hospital. For six months after trimming the tonsils, it is worth taking care of the diet of children and avoiding large groups of people, especially during the flu season. It is also good to additionally strengthen immunity through so-called climatic treatment, i.e. spending holidays in the mountains or by the sea.
