Cold from the air conditioner in the car. How to avoid getting sick from air conditioning

There are several ways to get a cold from an air conditioner.

The first way is a flow of cold air

If the air conditioner is installed incorrectly and you are located under a stream of air cooled by the air conditioner, then this is tantamount to being in a draft. And if you are also sweating, then you can’t avoid a cold, since under such conditions the body becomes suddenly hypothermic. This applies not only to indoor devices, but also to automobile ones. After all, many car owners, being in a car heated in the sun, turn on the air conditioners at full power and are constantly in a flow of cold air. And then a runny nose, pain in the throat, neck and back, inability to turn your head and straighten up.

The second way is sudden cooling

Not only the cold air from the air conditioner is dangerous, but also the temperature contrast between the air outside and in the air-conditioned room. For example, if the temperature outside the window is 30 degrees, and the room is only 18, then the body experiences excessive stress when exposed to different temperature conditions. In such conditions, it is difficult for even a very healthy and seasoned person not to get sick. What can we say about the weakened and suffering chronic diseases people.

The third way is dry air

Air conditioning, like central heating, greatly dries out the air. This happens because when hot air cools, the water it contains settles in the form of liquid (condensate). Have you seen how much water drips through the drainage system of your air conditioner while it is running? Entire puddles and streams. And if there is little moisture in the surrounding air, then it begins to evaporate intensively from all surfaces, including the surface of the skin, hair, and mucous membranes. They especially suffer Airways. This leads to a weakening of the body's defenses and frequent colds. In addition, a suspension of dust, fungi and other microorganisms appears in dry air, since they are not retained on the overdried surface of the floor and furniture. This also contributes to the exacerbation of allergic diseases.

Path four - microorganisms

Inside the air conditioner, excellent conditions have been created for the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, which are carried throughout the room with the flow of blown air. Legionella is especially dangerous because it causes severe and difficult-to-treat pneumonia. This is most relevant for branched air conditioning systems installed in large companies, shops, premises public use. But this also applies to ordinary household air conditioners if they are used incorrectly, the filters are excessively dirty and they are not replaced in a timely manner.

How to avoid colds when using air conditioners

• Install the unit so that a stream of cold air blows along the ceiling. This will ensure uniform cooling of the room and not a single person present in it will be exposed to the cold “wind”.
• Use a modification with an antibacterial filter and a humidifier.
• Install the air conditioner model that suits the volume of your room.
• Turn on the air conditioner before it gets hot to keep the room temperature constant throughout the day.
• Set the unit to operate at a temperature of approximately 21-22 degrees and a humidity of 60-70 percent. The difference in air temperatures in the room and outside the window should not exceed 5-7 degrees.
• If the air conditioner does not humidify the air, then run a humidifier while it is running. Natural moisturizers such as houseplants and aquariums will not be able to compensate for the lack of moisture. Moreover, indoor plants can die if they remain in the air conditioner for a long time, and water will quickly evaporate from aquariums.
• Be sure to ventilate the room. Do this in the evening and morning hours when the air outside is cool.
• To cool the air in your car, ventilate the interior by opening all the windows and doors before you get in. Only after airing, close the car and turn on the air conditioning.
• Drink enough fluids to keep the skin and mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract optimally hydrated.
• Clean the air conditioner regularly according to the instructions, change filters in a timely manner.

Don't shy away from using air conditioning in hot weather. The device itself correct use designed to be useful. After all, hot air and heat are dangerous for the body, especially in the presence of diseases of cardio-vascular system. Use modern technology correctly and enjoy comfort without harm to your health.

Human nature is such that most people treat their health completely irresponsibly until the body begins to signal problems through pain. And when the pain goes away, they forget about it.

It turns out to be a vicious circle. Hypothermia and poor lifestyle have a direct impact on back health.

If there is a pain in your back, there will be pain, which will make it difficult to straighten up. Paradoxically, only then does a person begin to think about how to maintain health.

But this pathology can be prevented, but preventive measures you begin to think only after characteristic complications arise.

The common people often say that “the back is blown,” and almost everyone is faced with the question of what to do if the lower back is cold. IN modern medicine this disease can be treated quickly and in effective ways, but you can also use traditional methods.

Doctors this state called sciatica or radiculitis (or lumbago and myositis).

The diagnosis will be made in accordance with the nature and degree of localization of the inflammatory process.

What could be causing this problem?

The main reason that leads to the occurrence painful sensations, is the impact of cold air masses.

You can get sick at any time of the year, but it is more likely to blow out your lower back in the summer.

What leads to hypothermia:

These reasons lead to the fact that the muscles are initially well warmed up, the blood vessels are dilated and blood circulation is increased, but upon contact with cooler air or a change in temperature, spasms occur.

There are other mechanisms by which you can get a cold in your back, but main reason is hypothermia.

Therefore, it is important to remember this, and if workplace located near the air conditioner, the temperature mode must be set correctly.

How to determine if there is pain in the lower back

Symptoms of a blown back will not appear immediately, but only ten hours after severe hypothermia.

The disease is characterized by both a single symptom and several signs.

Among them:

• emergence severe pain in the lower back or back, especially during extension;
• it becomes more difficult to move;
• burning in the lumbar region;
• urination becomes more frequent;
• the skin takes on a bluish tint;
• changes in the menstrual cycle;
• soreness in the buttocks and legs;
• forced to take a bent position;
• when the inflammation process develops rapidly, there is a possibility of an increase in temperature.

Characteristic symptoms may appear one at a time or all together, and the patient’s condition may either worsen or improve. It all depends on the degree of pathology.

In this regard, in order for the consequences to be less serious, therapy should be prescribed as early as possible.

Inflammation of the spinal muscles is inflammatory process in muscle fibers, during which nodules are formed inside the muscles.

In medicine, this disease is known as myositis.

Symptoms of myositis include: pain on movement and palpation, muscle pain and atrophy, the skin becomes swollen and redness is observed.

What can cause myositis:

• infections;
• helminths;
• muscle cramps;
• hypothermia;
• muscle strain;
• influence of toxic substances.

Therapy for myositis is prescribed strictly on an individual basis, depending on what caused the inflammatory process.

First aid

If the back pain is minor, therapy can be carried out at home.

The main thing is to start everything in a timely manner, then it will be possible to avoid the protracted nature of the disease.

You also need:

• if you have a cold in your back muscles, you should dress warmly before going outside;
• take painkillers if prescribed by a doctor;
• to avoid increased pain, do not take a hot bath;
• do physical therapy and relaxing massage;
• following a diet that involves excluding alcoholic beverages, fatty and salty foods, as well as fried and spicy foods.

Traditional methods of treatment

When it is not possible to visit a doctor or go to a pharmacy, you can use traditional methods of treating a cold lower back. But it would be better to use them together with medical recommendations which are described above.

Let's consider traditional therapy options:

1. In cases where the lower back, back or neck are cold or cold, you can use an alcohol-based warming compress. You can also use vodka or pepper tincture. The compress should be applied to the cold area, secured with film and insulated with something. For good effect should be left overnight. This method helps improve blood supply, therefore nutrients quickly reach damaged areas of tissue.
2. Mustard plasters, a heating pad, or bags of heated salt can be applied to painful parts of the body, which helps resolve swelling and bruises.
3. If there are cracks or damage to the skin, it is necessary to make a bandage with an antiseptic substance (septocide, furatsilin and others).
4. You can use honey, which should be well lubricated with a cabbage leaf and applied to the sore spot. To achieve the effect faster, you can add mustard or horseradish to honey.
5. You can rub fir oil into the cold area along with pepper tincture, which you can make yourself or purchase at a pharmacy.

After the pain goes away, you can return to physical activity. But it is very important to “listen” to the condition of your back.

If there is no pain, you can visit the pool.

This is not only pleasant, but also useful. Swimming helps improve the muscular framework of the back. And if you exercise regularly, the likelihood of myalgia will be significantly reduced.

Set of exercises

It is useful to perform physical therapy at home. Preventative exercises help relieve pain.

Set of exercises:

• you need to lie on your back and bend your knees, your feet should be on the floor;
• the knees should be tilted in turn in different directions;
• your back should be pressed to the floor;
• the exercise must be repeated thirty times;
• after this, it is useful to take a warm shower and perform a warm back massage.

When you cannot cure yourself, you need to see a doctor and do not delay the visit. Painkillers and necessary examinations will be prescribed to make it possible to find out what is the cause of myalgia. It is very important to start treatment on time, otherwise there will be complications.

How to avoid complications

It is better to prevent any disease than to treat it for a long time. Therefore, to prevent back problems from bothering you, you must adhere to the following tips:

Also in methods of prevention, as in medicinal purposes, you can wear special belts that are made of sheep, dog or camel wool.

It doesn't take long for your back to show through. A pain syndrome will constantly increase and will cause a lot of unpleasant sensations. Therefore, you must treat your health carefully and reverently, not ignoring any symptoms and manifestations of the disease.

Every summer, many residents of southern (and not so southern) regions thank the creator of the air conditioner in their thoughts. This benefit of civilization allows you not to get fried in the summer in your own home, apartment or car and bring at least a drop of freshness and coolness to a stuffy room. Most people these days find it difficult to imagine living without an air conditioner or split system, but this device is insidious. In the summer, the threshold for colds increases sharply precisely because of the desire to quickly cool down after a hot street. Therefore, it is important to know how not to get sick from the air conditioner yourself and protect your loved ones from colds.

How can colds from air conditioning be dangerous?

When hypothermic from an air conditioner, a person may not feel cold symptoms for two to three days.

First of all, a cold from hypothermia under a split system or air conditioner is unpleasant because the symptoms of the disease may not be felt at all at first. The disease itself may appear only after two or three days. It is possible that during this period the patient will aggravate the existing disease by continuing to sit under the air conditioner.

The primary symptoms of hypothermia are burning and slight itching in the nose and throat. Then there is prolonged sneezing and nasal discharge. Gradually, breathing becomes difficult, general weakness occurs, and sometimes the temperature rises. All this suggests that you have developed rhinitis.

Another disease that may occur due to temperature changes is pharyngitis. With this disease, the pharyngeal mucosa begins to become inflamed. The patient complains of a constant dry cough, sore throat, and sometimes fever.

But the most common problem for a person with a cold is a combination of the two previous diseases - nasopharyngitis. It combines all the symptoms of rhinitis and pharyngitis at the same time and requires longer treatment.

Besides listed diseases, a patient with hypothermia may experience a sore throat, runny nose, laryngitis (unlike pharyngitis, with this disease a dry cough quickly turns into a wet one, hoarseness appears or the voice disappears altogether).

Can air conditioning cause pneumonia?

Colds under air conditioning can lead to severe pneumonia

Colds after hypothermia under a split system - this is not news. Much more serious is the fact that a cold under air conditioning can lead to the development severe form pneumonia. This becomes especially dangerous if the room uses a closed air cooling system. When the filters in the device are changed irregularly, this leads to the accumulation of condensate and the appearance of pathogenic bacteria in it. A weakened human body cannot cope with bacteria if they have already entered the lungs, so inflammation begins, gradually turning into pneumonia.

The first symptoms indicating developed pneumonia are headache, general weakness, aching joints. Then the patient gets a rise heat(up to 40 degrees), appears severe chills. In this case, you need to urgently consult a doctor and undergo a course of antibiotic treatment.

How to use it correctly

In order to protect yourself and your loved ones from colds, you should adhere to some rules for using split systems.

To be healthy, it is important to follow simple rules using air conditioning

1. Maintain a “golden mean” between indoor and outdoor temperatures. A significant temperature difference (more than 10 degrees) will stress your body and force it to spend much more effort on adaptation. Therefore, the ideal difference between the temperature indoors and outdoors will be 5–10 degrees.
2. Keep the filters clean. It is advisable to clean filters 1-2 times a year. This also applies to split systems and air conditioners in cars. A clean filter is the key to protection against pathogenic bacteria that may appear in condensate.
3. Do not sit under a direct stream of cold air. The air conditioner fan should always be directed so that it is out of direct flows of cold air.

At home

Home air conditioners also require compliance with certain rules of use.

Home air conditioners also require compliance with certain rules of use:

1. Additional humidification of the air. In addition to compliance general recommendations(such as maintaining the correct temperature difference and keeping the filters clean), it is also important to monitor the humidity level in the room. Split systems and other cooling designs dry out the air, and dry air can cause discomfort in the throat, nose, and eyes.
2. Any room still requires ventilation. Despite the air conditioning in the house, we must not forget about simple ventilation. This will help avoid the accumulation of harmful bacteria and germs.
3. Follow the “night mode”. If your AAC (air conditioning system) does not support automatic Sleep mode, then you can configure it yourself.

In the office

You need to carefully monitor the cleanliness of the filters in the split system

Office work in the summer is sometimes a real salvation. While most people are melting from the heat on the streets and at home, you are in a cool room. But such carelessness can easily lead to a cold, so listen to all the recommendations given in the previous paragraphs, and also remember that you should not endure the cold in the office. If you are uncomfortable, do not wrap yourself in a thousand sweaters and jackets, discuss the most pleasant temperature conditions for everyone with your colleagues and set temperature regime at around 23–25 degrees. These are quite acceptable numbers that will not harm your health. And also make sure that the filters in the split system are clean. In office premises, pollution occurs much faster.

In car

It is important that the temperature difference between the car interior and the street is small

Compliance with the rules for using air conditioning in a car is also very important:

1. Maintain a small temperature difference between the car interior and the street. The temperature difference should be small (2–6 degrees). It is advisable to cool the interior before you get into the car.
2. Keep the cooling system clean. This applies primarily to changing filters. But most importantly, when you turn on the cooling system in your car, you should close the windows to avoid increased load on the air conditioner.
3. If the car is hot, you should first ventilate the interior and then turn on the cooling. If your car has been standing in the heat for a long time and has become very hot, then before turning on the SCR, you need to open all the doors and ventilate the interior. After that, close the windows and doors and turn on the air conditioner.

In order to cool the air during sleep, air conditioners have a special “sleep” mode.

Previously, sleeping with the air conditioner on was taboo for many. But for long years production and modification of SCR, it became possible to cool the air even at night without the threat of catching a cold. Many cooling systems now have a special “Sleep” operating mode, which allows you to set automatic settings for night operation. If your air conditioner does not have such a mode, then you can manually configure the necessary parameters:

1. Leave the temperature at 25 degrees overnight.
2. Point the fan upward so that cold air flows throughout the room.
3. Do not lie down under a stream of cold air.
4. Avoid drafts.
5. Replace the blanket with a thin sheet (you can't give up the bedspread altogether).
6. Maintain a sufficient level of humidity in the room.

Air conditioning is truly one of man's most useful inventions. But it cannot be denied that it is also one of the most insidious devices. Therefore, in order to avoid getting sick, try to follow the rules for using air conditioning systems and protect your loved ones from hypothermia.

According to medical science, instantaneous temperature changes are safe for human health. external environment is 3-5 degrees. Therefore, with a quick and frequent “switching” of “hot-cool”, which happens when it’s thirty-degree heat outside, and in the rooms and in cars air conditioners are blowing with all their might, keeping it at 20°C, the body experiences real stress, the consequences of which are so good Everyone knows sore throat and runny nose.

However, it is quite possible to prevent such troubles, or to reduce them to a minimum - you just need to follow simple rules.

Do not immediately turn on the air conditioner at full power (16-18 C), but start “gradually”, setting the temperature to 24-26 C and only after a while – about 10-15 minutes at this temperature – add “cold” further. Although, in thirty-degree heat outside, a temperature of 24-26 C in the cabin may be quite enough to feel cool. Moreover, even modern systems climate control systems can make mistakes and create a temperature in the cabin slightly lower than what is set in the settings.

By the way: physiologists call the temperature of the external environment (at normal humidity) plus 22 - 24 C the most optimal for human life and the best for maintaining health.

When the air conditioner is on, the windows must be closed. Otherwise, we get a “double draft,” which is definitely not good for health. In addition, such operation of the air conditioner is incorrect and purely technically - the car air conditioner is designed for a limited volume of the interior, and when it begins to “cool the street”, the system is subject to increased load and may fail.

Not worth it for a long time direct a stream of cold air coming out of the deflector (airflow grille) onto your face. You can quickly “refresh yourself” for a short time, and then turn the airflow to the side.

Change cabin air filters on time and sanitize the air conditioning system once a season. Many people forget about this, believing that if the air conditioner works, then everything is in order. Meanwhile, various microorganisms can accumulate in the air duct system of the air conditioner - mold fungi and microbes deposited on them. – which can either directly cause acute respiratory infections or help provoke them.

To quickly cool down a hot interior after a long stay. Open the windows and ventilate the interior for a couple of minutes. We set the recirculation mode to “interior only” and turn on the air conditioning at full power for about 5 minutes. Then we switch the recirculation to the “external” mode and set the desired temperature.

When parked for a long time in the sun in the heat with the air conditioner operating inside at full power, the car windows may crack due to thermal stress due to a strong temperature difference.

Watch the engine temperature gauge. When driving for a long time at a snail's pace in city traffic jams, the climate control and engine cooling systems experience increased loads.

Keep the air conditioner radiator clean.

A cold from an air conditioner is a fairly common occurrence, caused by a sudden change in temperature. environment. The manifestations of the disease are very similar to common acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections.

Why do air conditioners cause colds? Most often, a runny nose and cough from climate control occurs against the background of hypothermia. People with weakened immune systems and chronic diseases of the ENT organs are more susceptible to colds than others.

Hypothermia occurs when a person goes from the heat of the street to a cool room where the air temperature is much lower. Another cause of a cold can be an incorrectly chosen location for installing the air conditioner indoors. If a person is constantly in the zone of cold air flow, the draft effect is triggered.

Not less often, in the summer heat, people catch a cold in cars with climate control turned on. If the temperature is set below a comfortable level, then in a small car interior you can catch a cold in a matter of minutes.

In addition to hypothermia, under the influence of climate control equipment there is a risk of contracting legionellosis (SARS). The cause of infection is most often air conditioners that are not properly maintained.

Important! Dirty filters create an ideal environment for the emergence and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, which, during air conditioning, enter the respiratory tract along with the air flow.

Symptoms

The signs of a cold from an air conditioner are the same as for viral respiratory diseases. Classic symptoms develop in the following order:

• Headache.
• Feeling of aching in bones and muscles.
• Sneezing, nasal congestion.
• Temperature rises to 37°-37.5°.
• Increased sensitivity of the skin.
• Sore or sore throat.
• Pain when swallowing saliva.

In addition to the listed symptoms, severe or It's a dull pain in the ears, feeling tired, drowsiness and loss of appetite.

Diagnostics

Identifying a cold from an air conditioner, like any respiratory disease, is not particularly difficult. Frequent sneezing, runny nose with watery discharge from the nose (rhinitis) at the very beginning, later a feeling of nasal congestion, sore throat, dry cough, pain in the larynx when coughing. If your throat hurts and your body temperature reaches 38–40 degrees, such manifestations indicate a sore throat.

Legionnaires' disease begins with the same symptoms as a cold, but progresses much faster. Unpleasant sensations in the throat, a dry cough and moderate hyperthermia are very soon replaced by a productive cough with green sputum, a mild headache and general weakness are added. Then the condition quickly worsens, aches appear throughout the body, chills, fever, pain in the chest when coughing (pleurisy).

Important! In the absence of timely medical care Legionellosis is fatal.

Therapy

A cold from an air conditioner (cough, runny nose) should be treated according to the same scheme as an acute respiratory infection (ARVI). At the first symptoms, you should take any of the cold medicines based on paracetamol with added vitamin C and antihistamine(Coldrex, Fervex, Rinza, Grippomix). Can also be used folk remedies– tea with lemon, rosehip infusion.

When you have a runny nose, it is useful to use not only nasal drops (sprays), but also rinse your nose with a weak aqueous solution sea ​​salt. You can do it yourself or purchase a ready-made drug at a pharmacy.

Important! Do not overuse vasoconstrictor nasal drops and sprays. An overdose of such drugs can cause the opposite effect.

Elevated body temperature can be reduced by rubbing with an alcohol or vinegar solution. If your body temperature rises to 38.5 degrees or more, you should take an antipyretic and call a doctor. Self-medication in such cases can cause serious complications.

If the doctor suspects legionellosis, the patient is immediately hospitalized - this is the only right decision. If left untreated, atypical pneumonia is fatal.

If treatment for a cold does not bring relief and the condition does not improve within 1–1.5 weeks, you should consult a doctor and get tested. Based on the results laboratory research therapy will be prescribed. Most often, a cold that is not treated from the first day leads to complications such as:

• tonsillitis;
• bronchitis;
• pneumonia;
• otitis;
• sinusitis;
• sinusitis.

These diseases arise due to the joining bacterial infection and in most cases without timely treatment become chronic.

Prevention

It is always easier to prevent a disease than to cure it. This rule is worth remembering and following. So that in the summer you don’t have to decide how to treat a runny nose or cough from an air conditioner, you should remember a few simple recommendations regarding its use:

• Follow the rules for placing the device in the room.
• Do not set the climate control dial too high low values(the temperature difference between the room and the open air should not exceed 5–8 C).
• Avoid being in direct air flow from the air conditioner.
• Follow the manufacturer's recommendations regarding equipment maintenance (timely replacement of filters is especially important).
• Strengthen your immune system– this will help the body fight viruses and not succumb to diseases at the slightest exposure to cool wind.

The air conditioner itself, whether it is installed indoors or inside a car, cannot cause harm to health. Colds are caused by improper use of climate control equipment. If you follow all the rules, the air conditioner will only give you pleasant coolness on a hot day.