Dryness in the air is often noticeable in the cold winter months and in the summer when you use your air conditioner excessively. Too much dry air can severely impact your health, causing problems such as asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, and skin diseases like dermatitis. For this reason, it is essential to make sure that the humidity levels inside a room remain under control, one way to do this is by using a humidifier.
Below we discuss how humidifiers work and their numerous benefits on your health.
What Is A Humidifier?
A humidifier is a device responsible for adding moisture to otherwise dry and dirty air. It prevents dryness that can lead to irritation in many parts of the body. It is particularly used to treat skin and respiratory diseases caused by dryness.
However, it is essential to note that overusing a humidifier can worsen respiratory problems. Therefore when using it, one must take care and precautions. The ideal humidity level in your home should be between 45-50%.
In winter, 50% humidity levels are hard to achieve, as cold air holds less moisture and heating appliances absorb any remaining humidity.
It Helps Combat Dry Skin, Sinus, And Throat Problems
Humidity acts as a natural moisturizing agent and relieves dryness. You can use it to combat conditions like itchy and dry skin, sinuses, headaches, dry throat, nose irritation/bloody nose, dry cough, cracked lips, and more.
You may be prone to these problems due to the dry and dirty air circulating your house. Dry air is prevalent during winter or when your AC is used in excess during the summer. Depending upon where you live, controlling the air inside your home is not an easy task. This is where having a humidifier may offer benefits.
Helps You Avoid Cold And Flu Germs
Viral colds and flus can make you feel awful and can severely impact your health. In the winter months, these germs, especially the influenza virus and COVID-19, seem to pass from person to person with no sign of stopping or slowing down.
However, thankfully, having the right humidity levels set in your home can slow down the spread of airborne pathogens and reduce their infectivity. Higher humidity causes viruses to attach to water vapor and fall out of the air. This also explains why we get sick or are more prone to illnesses during dryer winter months.
Helps Loosen Congestion
Too little humidity in the air is a common cause of thickening and drying mucus, resulting in clogged nasal passages and hence nasal congestion. Nasal congestion, in turn, leads to a stuffy nose, sore throat, and sinus pain.
Adding moisture to the air through humidifiers helps break up mucus and phlegm in your nose and chest, easing the symptoms of nasal and chest congestion along with coughing and sinus headaches.
Alleviate The Symptoms Of Asthma And The Flu
Humidifiers are well known for relieving the symptoms of flu and asthma. Sleeping with a humidifier in the room while you’re sick can help you recover faster. This is because, apart from loosening congestion, it helps lubricate your nasal cavities and lets you breathe more comfortably. It also helps alleviate a sore throat and hence leads to better and comfortable breathing.
Moreover, at night, a compromised sleeping posture and cold and dry air aid the buildup of mucus in your nasal cavity and throat. This can worsen your cold and flu symptoms and may cause infection. A humidifier helps alleviate this by adding moisture to the air.
Helps Keep Your Hair And Scalp Healthy
Just like your skin on the rest of the body can become parched and dehydrated, your scalp can also become irritated when there is a lack of moisture in the air. This causes your scalp to itch and aggravate dandruff.
Low humidity in the air also affects your hairs structure, as it is made up of collagen and needs a certain amount of moisture. When hair is exposed to dry air for too long, it becomes dry and brittle, causing it to break and fray easily. A humidifier helps rebalance the air’s humidity levels that may help keep your hair and scalp healthy.
Call Nor-Can Heating & Air Today!
Lack of humidity in the air can make you sick and uncomfortable in many ways. Install a humidifier today to combat these health issues caused by dry air.
Nor-Can Heating & Air ensures perfect installation and repair of humidifiers with any furnace model. Our humidifiers can also be configured with your thermostat to help you maintain humidity levels automatically. For more information, visit our website or contact us today.
