Do Winter Colds Happen While You Sleep? A Thorough Explanation of the Relationship Between Sleep, Dryness, and Cold!
Colds and flu are common concerns during the dry, cold season. While frequent hand washing and gargling are basic measures to wash away viruses from your hands and throat, it's surprisingly not well known that care during sleep in this season is very important. Let's stay healthy by preparing for winter sleep when immunity tends to decrease.
Why do we catch colds more easily in the cold, dry season?
Winter sleep and weakened immunity
Did you know that you are actually more likely to catch a cold while sleeping? As the weather gets colder, it's common to wake up feeling symptoms of a cold, such as "my throat hurts when I cough," "I feel feverish," or "I feel sluggish." This is because weakened immunity due to "cold" and "dryness" led to catching a cold during sleep. The body's immunity is maintained by body temperature and moisture. When the body temperature drops during sleep due to the "cold" of winter, capillaries constrict, and blood flow worsens, leading to a stagnation in the circulation of lymphocytes that fight cold viruses. This creates a vicious cycle of weakened immunity leading to a cold. Additionally, during sleep, the dry winter air enters the body through breathing, causing the mucous membranes of the throat to dry out and become inflamed, which weakens the body's ability to defend against cold viruses that enter at the same time. These factors combine to make cold symptoms more likely to occur during the dry winter season.
"Low temperature, low humidity, and dry" environment favored by cold viruses
It is said that there are over 200 types of cold viruses, and their airborne spread increases in low-temperature, low-humidity, and dry environments in winter. In humid environments, cold viruses containing moisture fall to the ground, but in dry environments with humidity below 40%, the moisture in cold viruses evaporates, making them lighter and allowing them to float in the air. When these airborne cold viruses enter the bodies of people with weakened immunity in winter in large numbers, colds are more likely to spread.
Hydration is essential in the cold season
Why do you feel thirsty even if you're not sweating?
Approximately 60% of the human body is made up of water. About 2.5 liters of water are lost from the body, and approximately 1.2 liters of water need to be taken in through drinking each day. In summer, you're more likely to feel thirsty and recognize dehydration due to sweating and heat, but in winter, you tend to become dehydrated due to insensible perspiration, such as water evaporating from the skin due to dry air. In particular, you sweat during sleep, so make sure to hydrate properly before going to bed to maintain your body's water content.
Improve "sleep quality" with measures against winter dryness and cold!
Prepare your body before bed and boost immunity!
The quality of your sleep at night is determined by your body's condition before bed. To reset your body after a day of work and tension, relax by taking a long soak in water at 38–40°C. If you go to sleep with a cold body, your sympathetic nervous system will continue to work to prevent heat loss, which not only fatigues your body during sleep but also lowers your immunity. Foot baths are as effective as bathing, and it is said that by warming your feet in hot water and then massaging them, you can also warm your hands and boost the activity of the lymph, which is responsible for immunity.
Warm your neck 30 minutes before bed to switch your body to relaxation mode
To improve the quality of winter sleep, support the function of the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body. The neck is an important area that controls the function of the parasympathetic nervous system. Warming the neck activates blood circulation and improves parasympathetic nervous system function, switching the body to relaxation mode. Additionally, warming the neck means warming the key points of the nerves and blood vessels connecting the head and body, which improves immunity and autonomic nervous system balance regulation. It is recommended to apply a hot towel to the base of your neck for about 10 minutes, approximately 30 minutes before bedtime. It is even more effective if you avoid watching TV or using your smartphone while applying the hot towel.
Prevent body chills with a breathable mattress!
It is said that people sweat about one to one and a half cups per night, all year round. With a mattress that is not breathable, sweat is not properly absorbed by the mattress, making it more likely for moisture to adhere to the skin, and body heat is lost when the moisture evaporates. Winter night sweats accelerate chills, stimulate the sympathetic nervous system during sleep, fatigue the body, and lower immunity. To break this vicious cycle, a high-resilience mattress is ideal. High-resilience mattresses have a structure that dissipates heat, so they are very breathable and support the sleep environment by managing sweat and heat during sleep.
The type of sleep you get greatly affects your winter health. Aim to boost your immunity through daily sleep, build a body that resists colds, and achieve good quality sleep and a good quality of life!
