In summer, the heat is really unbearable, thus staying in a cooling room with an air conditioner is everyone’s favorite. But if used improperly, it’s very easy to have adverse reactions, commonly known as “air-conditioning disease”, and often not easy to detect.
So how to stay away from “air-conditioning disease”? How to prevent it? Let us give you the explanations.
Symptoms Of the Air-conditioning Disease
1. Catch a cold
Because of the high temperature in summer, many people set the air conditioner’s temperature to very low.
When people enter an air-conditioning room from a hot outdoor, the respiratory tract is easily stimulated, and when sweating, pores and capillaries suddenly contract sharply when cold, which is easy to catch a cold and get heatstroke.
If you stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, the pores are in a state of contraction, suddenly come to a muggy room or outdoors, the pores can’t open in time, if the body regulation center is improper, there will be heatstroke or sore throat, stuffy nose and other wind-heat cold symptoms.
Method: Set the temperature of the air conditioner shouldn’t be too low.
The room temperature is generally 25°C. You can make the set temperature to be 2-3°C lower than the room temperature; at the same time, do not stay in the air-conditioned room for too long. You can go out 15 minutes every 2-3 hours so that the temperature of the whole body is not too cold or too hot.
2. Headache
In addition to causing colds, Air Conditioners also do serious damage to the brain, the most common being headaches.
In summer, people rush into air-conditioned rooms after working outdoors.
The skin feels the temperature from hot to cold, especially when the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is >5°C, the blood vessels expand and contract cold, and contract rapidly from the dilated state, resulting in headache symptoms.
Headache of air-conditioning disease
Method: Don’t enter the air-conditioned room when you are sweating!
Don’t set room temperature so low below 20°C (especially when you catch a cold already), the best scope is 22-25 °C.
Don’t stay in the air-conditioned rooms for more than 3 hours, especially when the set temperature is below 20 °C.
3. Dry skin
If you stay in an air-conditioned room for a longer time, the skin becomes dry and itchy.
Especially suffering from chronic skin diseases, very sensitive to temperature changes. Take the common chronic dermatosis and atopic dermatitis, for example, when sweating in hot weather and sweat stimulation is obvious, the skin itches unbearably. If you stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, the skin will also itch because it is too dry.
As above, you should not stay in an air-conditioned room for too long.
4. Dry eyes
The problem of dryness in the air-conditioned room also affects the eyes.
People who wear contact lenses for a long time and suffer from chronic conjunctivitis or dry eyes tend to have dry eyes. If the air-conditioning filter is not cleaned in time, the situation will be even worse.
In airtight office buildings, air-conditioning systems continuously cycle, high concentrations of carbon dioxide continue to accumulate in the air, eyes in the case of lack of oxygen and stare at the computer screen for a long time, easily get red and itchy.
As all above, you should not stay in an air-conditioned room for too long.
5. Joint pain
In the air-conditioning room, many people will find dull pain and discomfort in the joints of their bodies.
Unlike other arthritis, this symptom is generally not serious. Most of it is caused by the low-temperature environment, which stimulates the rapid contraction of blood vessels and obstructs blood flow.
Joint Pain
6. Affect metabolism
Affected by the temperature, the human body will sweat naturally in summer.
Sweating is one of the main ways the human body undergoes metabolism. Staying in an air-conditioned room for a long time will shrink your pores when cold, resulting in dysfunction of perspiration and reduced sweating, which may affect the body’s metabolism.
7. Gynecological diseases
Office ladies are in a low-temperature air-conditioning environment all day long, while wearing short sleeves and short skirts, coupled with their relatively weak physical fitness, heat dissipation of hands and feet quickly, easy to cause vasomotor disorders.
Such cold stimulation is likely to affect young women’s ovarian function, cause ovulation disorders, menstrual disorders or severe stomach pains and other symptoms.
Causes of Air-conditioning Disease
1. Large temperature difference
Due to the large indoor and outdoor temperature difference, hot and cold alternating, resulting in the human body’s balance regulation system dysfunction, balance imbalance will cause headache, easy to catch a cold.
2. Cold stimulation
A low-temperature environment will make blood vessels contract sharply, blood flow is not smooth, so that joint damage is caused by cold joint pain.
Cold stimulation can excite the sympathetic nerve, resulting in vasoconstriction in the abdominal cavity and weakening of gastrointestinal motility, causing many symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort.
Gastrointestinal discomfort because of cold stimulation
3. Low humidity
Use Air conditioner can result in indoor humidity being too low, and will have adverse reactions on the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and others, leading to a variety of mucosal diseases.
4. Room is airtight
The air conditioning room is too airtight, the air is turbid, the number of bacteria increasing, etc.
It is bound to be dizzy in this environment for a long time, especially in the newly decorated room, which isn’t conducive to releasing indoor pollutants and easily causes discomfort.
5. Allergy
The wind from the air conditioner may stir up the dust on the air conditioner filter or other indoor allergens, which are easy to be inhaled by people, especially children who are prone to respiratory allergies.
In addition, sudden inhalation of cold air can also cause the airways of allergic people (especially the kids) to contract and induce allergic symptoms.
6. Virus germs multiply
The air duct or cross/axial fan of the air conditioner is suitable for the survival and reproduction of germs and viruses, which are blown out by the air conditioner cycling, so easy to cause large-scale infection.
Correct Methods to Prevent Air-conditioning Disease
1. The temperature difference between indoor and outdoor shouldn’t exceed 5℃
The temperature of the air conditioner shouldn’t be set too low, in order to avoid excessive temperature difference with the outside, because that will make people (especially the middle-aged, the elderly, babies and other frail people) easy to catch a cold.
2. Continuously create air exchange
Don’t use the air conditioner for so long hours one time, often open windows to ensure indoor and outdoor air exchange, so that outdoor fresh air join into indoor, and keep indoor room’s air cleaning.
Indoor and outdoor air exchange
3. Don’t blow the air conditioner directly when you sweat
Don’t immediately enter the air-conditioned room with a very low temperature when sweating heavily.
If you want to enter the air-conditioned room with sweat, it is best to change your wet clothes and dry your sweat firstly.
4. If you stay in an air-conditioned room for too long time, exercise properly
If you have to work in an air-conditioned room for a whole day, you’d better take a warm bath every night or make a massage (by yourself). The best way is to exercise properly.
5. Adjust the setting temperature in time when using an air conditioner while sleeping at night
Even if you turn on the air conditioner, you should adjust the air conditioning temperature in time when the low temperature at night, and use towels to cover the abdomen and other areas which are easy to catch a cold.
6. Clean and disinfect air conditioners frequently
If the air conditioner isn’t cleaned for a long time, dirt and bacteria attached to its surface and interior will not only affect the cooling and heating effect but also cause harm to human health.
For easy cleaning ( the filter, the plastic casing) you can make it by yourself, for complex cleaning ( copper coil, aluminum fins, fan motor, cross fan, compressor), must call the air conditioner service company for help.
7. Forbidden smoking
Smoking in a closed air-conditioned room is taboo!
The air inlet of the air conditioner will suck the cigarette dust-laden air into the air conditioning system and recirculate and exhale it, which means that everyone in the room will smoke second-hand smoke, which is very harmful to health, especially children.
Call on everyone not to smoke in air-conditioned rooms.
8. Drink more warm water and pay attention to moisturizing
It is easy to lose water in air-conditioned rooms, resulting in excessive dryness of the nasal cavity and mucous membranes, and even bronchitis, as well as excessive dryness, itching, and rashes on the skin.
You need to drink more water. Don’t drink cold water but drink warm water. You can also cultivate plants and switch on humidifiers to increase the air humidity.
9. Warm your eyes
Dry eyes is a common air-conditioning disease, especially in people who wear contact lenses or have chronic conjunctivitis.
In an air-conditioned room, in addition to moderate eye drops, you might as well apply a warm towel to your eyes to help relieve symptoms and eliminate fatigue.
Misunderstanding Of Air-conditioning Disease
1. Cover the quilt to prevent air-conditioning disease
Many people are afraid to catch a cold, so when they sleep at night, they turn on the air conditioner and cover themselves with a thick quilt, though this can prevent air-conditioning disease.
In fact, the respiratory tract is the most fragile part, the quilt can only keep warm, not disease prevention.
However, if the air enters the body from the respiratory tract and wakes up with a dry mouth and nose, there will still be cold symptoms.
Avoid air-conditioning disease with a heavy quilt
2. Sweat heavily to using an air conditioner
People in air-conditioned rooms often feel dizzy, which is the brain nerve imbalance caused by air-conditioning disease.
Some people use the air conditioner at home all day or enter the house from outside in a sweat, set the A/C (air conditioner) temperature very low, even use the air conditioner to cool themselves directly, this way will cause dizziness.
Moreover, the sudden cold air can easily stimulate the sudden contraction of sweat pores and lead to symptoms such as headaches.
3. Headache and fever are all fine
Many people don’t realize the harm caused by long-term air conditioning.
As everyone knows, cold air does huge damage to the joints. If you don’t pay attention to keeping warm, it is easy to get arthritis when you get older, and that is difficult to recover.
4. Antibiotics are used indiscriminately
It should be reminded that some people stay in air-conditioned rooms for a long time. Once they have a fever, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, and other symptoms, they thought should require infusions and use anti-inflammatory drugs (ie antibiotics),that is wrong.
Although the cold is a common disease, you can’t take medicine based on your own experience. According to Western medicine, colds are divided into viral infections and bacterial infections. Most colds are caused by viruses.
Antibiotics are only needed when colds are combined with bacterial infections.
Do 4 Right Movements In the Air-conditioned Room
1. Rub the wings of the nose frequently
The temperature difference between indoor and outdoor in summer often makes people catch a cold accidentally, the nose is not ventilated, and even induces rhinitis. Rubbing the wings of the nose in an air-conditioned room can improve the blood circulation of the nasal mucosa and help relieve symptoms such as nasal congestion and sneezing.
Please see the below video to get more knowledge.
Although it is about how to correct the deviation of the nasal septum and make your breathing easier and more comfortable, it is also applicable when you stay in the air-conditioned room for too long and want to relieve the symptoms of the air-conditioning disease.
2. Press the neck
When you have cold symptoms due to air conditioning, you might as well press the “Fengchi acupoint” on the back of the neck, press the belly of two thumbs on Fengchi acupoint, and the other four fingers are attached to both sides of the head, from light to heavy pressing and kneading for 1 minute, which can relieve nasal congestion and runny nose, headache, dizziness, neck pain and other symptoms.
3. Pinch the shoulder
The air conditioner is blowing on the shoulder and neck, and there will be soreness and other discomforts over a long period of time.
You can ease it by holding both shoulders and hands to do rhythmic kneading movements.
4. Stand on tiptoe
The air conditioning room has bad ventilation, easy to make people tired, so you can practise tiptoe, which can let blood supply enough oxygen to the heart muscle, benefit for cardiovascular health.
In addition, exercise calf muscles and ankles, prevent varicose veins, relieve fatigue symptoms.
Conclusion
The air-conditioning disease makes people very uncomfortable, and has a significant impact on work and life, but if you can pay attention to the above details, and implement them. You will avoid all the troubles.
Then when you stay in an air-conditioned room can only be happy, without worry at all.
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2 Responses
Great tip about how irregular air can cause a cold. I need to get an outdoor unit repairman. I think it is making al of us sick.
We advise you google to find, thanks