Many of us heard from parents and grandparents in childhood that we shouldn’t go outside in winter. But there is no direct connection between wet hair and a cold.
If you go out the door with wet hair on a cold day, you run a great risk of a cold – this myth persists. Analogous to this, drafts, wet feet or a fundamentally high level of cold should also favor the emergence of a cold. But even if the term suggests something else – a cold does not arise from the fact that we freeze, but by pathogens.
Wet hair and cold: What role does cold play?
We did not cold because we feel cold. Instead, a cold arises from viruses, for example rhinoviruses or coronaviruses. But it cannot be dismissed that significantly more people in winter are cold than in the warm seasons.
This is initially due to the fact that viruses in cold, dry air can spread better. In addition, the air dries out our mucous membranes and the pathogens have lighter game in dry mucous membranes.
In addition, our body is not so well supplied with blood. If we have wet hair and then go into the cold winter air, the temperature drops on our scalp. As a result, the blood vessels and blood circulation sink. The blood flow then not only decreases on our scalp, but also in the nose and in the throat. As a result, fewer defenses and white blood cells also get into these areas.
If cold virus now gets into the nasal mouth area, they encounter lower resistance-after all, there are fewer immune system and the immune system is weakened by the cold. For this reason, wet feet or drafts are also factors that can favor a cold.
Prevent the cold: This is how it works
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Silviarita)
Wet hair can make the work of our immune system difficult. Nevertheless, the following applies: Cold alone does not trigger a cold. First of all, we must have come into contact with pathogens. This happens, for example, through droplet infection. We breathe in infected droplets that a cold produced by sneezing or coughing.
We can also infect ourselves through a smear infection: the droplets with the pathogens get on surfaces. If we touch the infected surface and then put ourselves in the face, the pathogens come into the nose mouth area and can possibly spread there.
In order to avoid a cold, it is primarily effective not to come into contact with pathogens. Even if you can’t always avoid this 100 percent, there are some tips that you can pay attention to:
- Wash your hands with soap, especially during the cold period, regularly for 30 seconds.
- Avoid contact with sick people.
- If people have a cold in your household, you should not eat from the same dishes or use the same cutlery. It can also help to disinfect door handles and surfaces regularly.
It also makes sense to make sure that your hair and your body are dry when you go outside. Warm clothing that protects you from freezing can also reduce the risk of a cold. Finally, you ensure that your body continues to be well supplied with blood. A healthy diet and sufficient sport also strengthen your immune system and can prevent a cold.
Read more on utopia.de:
- Food that you should (not) eat when you are cold
- For so long a cold is contagious
- Correctly ventilate in the case of a cold: 2 things that really matters
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