It’s gotten COLD here in Wisconsin this week. We had a mostly mild winter going but things changed quickly and drastically.
Have you been struggling with the cold? Trouble breathing? Here are some thoughts on what that might mean and what you can do about it.
The first thing to note is that difficulty breathing in the cold is normally not dangerous. You’re not freezing your lungs or airways. Let’s get that out of the way right now.
The second thing to note is that difficulty breathing in the cold does not always indicate an underlying condition. Yes, people with asthma are more susceptible to the cold but people with no underlying conditions can still have trouble. In fact, I would suggest that everyone or nearly everyone would have some difficulty at some temperature long before it was cold enough to be dangerous to your airways.
What causes this difficulty? Well, it’s entirely possible that there is an underlying condition and it would be beneficial to rule that out. If you do have a medical condition, of course, take the advice of medical professionals on how to manage it.
If you do not have a medical condition, though, the difficulty is usually related to irritation caused by extremely cold and dry air. As soon as that air enters your mouth and travels through your throat, your mouth and throat are hard at work warming and humidifying the air. That’s where mouth and especially throat irritation usually come into play. However, in extreme circumstances, it’s possible that the air you’re breathing is not fully warmed and humidified by the time it is traveling down your windpipe. In this case, you may get irritation even down into your chest. Again, this isn’t freezing lungs and should not cause any damage to otherwise healthy lungs but it can still be uncomfortable.
So what do we do about this? The same thing people have been doing for generations: cover your face. Wear a balaclava or some other kind of face covering that covers your mouth or both your mouth and nose. Often, the mouth is enough but, if you have a lot of trouble, you might need to cover both your mouth and nose.