Which weather leads to congested nasal passages?
May 19, 2018 9:51 AM Subscribe
Is it dry and sunny or cloudy/humid? Or just the changes between them...
If using saline nasal spray is good for your nose and helps you breathe better, well then it seems the more wetness in the air the better off you'd be, and it would not bring congestion. Yet sometimes I hear that's when you may become stuffed up. Some people move to arid climates to breathe better. Is there a weather for which taking a decongestant (like Sudafed) makes more sense?
If using saline nasal spray is good for your nose and helps you breathe better, well then it seems the more wetness in the air the better off you'd be, and it would not bring congestion. Yet sometimes I hear that's when you may become stuffed up. Some people move to arid climates to breathe better. Is there a weather for which taking a decongestant (like Sudafed) makes more sense?
Sudden changes in temperature and humidity can trigger a histamine reaction. Here's one citation, but it's a familiar affliction for me when I travel from hot, humid Japan to the cool, dry summer of the Pacific Northwest. I get intense allergies, and also strange skin problems.
Sudden drops in temperature and humidity, say, in the aftermath of a typhoon, have also triggered asthma.
posted by JamesBay at 10:16 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sudden drops in temperature and humidity, say, in the aftermath of a typhoon, have also triggered asthma.
posted by JamesBay at 10:16 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I'm in Virginia. But let's say it's like July and I have no allergies. One day it's hot and dry, one day it rains and is overcast. Would a normal, healthy person experience some change in stuffiness due to either weather condition?
posted by noelpratt2nd at 10:16 AM on May 19, 2018
posted by noelpratt2nd at 10:16 AM on May 19, 2018
I don't think it's weather so much as allergens in the air. I guess rain, for instance, could clear some allergens out of the air, but I've never noticed my congestion being related to weather at all. I started taking Flonase and prescribed Azelastine HCI daily, and I mostly don't get nasal congestion anymore. Oral medicines, like Sudafed, never worked for me - only nasal sprays. Pretty sure I have chronic rhinitis and it's not weather-related.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:17 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:17 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
let's say it's like July and I have no allergies.
If you have no allergies and are not carrying rhinovirus there really shouldn't be any major difference. A LOT of people have allergies or some sort of snuffling brought on by a cold or something OR have malformed nasal passages where random mucus production gets caught and can cause issues. Absent this sort of thing, it really shouldn't matter.
But a lot of things can cause activity in your sinuses
- sunlight - some people have the sneeze-in-sun thing and there can be some mucus production
- food - "gustatory rhinitis" is a thing
- crying - fluid goes out your eyes but also drains into your sinus system
- medicines - some medicines can affect your nasal passages
- tooth issues - this can cause pressure in your sinuses which can seem like congestion
- ear issues - same
- barometric pressure - the sinuses are filled with air and changes in outside pressure can be felt inside the head (you see this a lot on airplanes) so when it drops (and this is associated with rain) this can be felt as congestion/headaches
Saline nasal spray is generally for people who are dealing with allergy issues to rinse crap out of nasal passages OR for people who are dealing with dry airways because these can crack and provide a vector for rhinovirus or other things (so is a good idea if it's very dry - see this article)
People move to arid climates to breathe better because of the absence of pollen.
posted by jessamyn at 10:34 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you have no allergies and are not carrying rhinovirus there really shouldn't be any major difference. A LOT of people have allergies or some sort of snuffling brought on by a cold or something OR have malformed nasal passages where random mucus production gets caught and can cause issues. Absent this sort of thing, it really shouldn't matter.
But a lot of things can cause activity in your sinuses
- sunlight - some people have the sneeze-in-sun thing and there can be some mucus production
- food - "gustatory rhinitis" is a thing
- crying - fluid goes out your eyes but also drains into your sinus system
- medicines - some medicines can affect your nasal passages
- tooth issues - this can cause pressure in your sinuses which can seem like congestion
- ear issues - same
- barometric pressure - the sinuses are filled with air and changes in outside pressure can be felt inside the head (you see this a lot on airplanes) so when it drops (and this is associated with rain) this can be felt as congestion/headaches
Saline nasal spray is generally for people who are dealing with allergy issues to rinse crap out of nasal passages OR for people who are dealing with dry airways because these can crack and provide a vector for rhinovirus or other things (so is a good idea if it's very dry - see this article)
People move to arid climates to breathe better because of the absence of pollen.
posted by jessamyn at 10:34 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
But let's say it's like July and I have no allergies. One day it's hot and dry, one day it rains and is overcast. Would a normal, healthy person experience some change in stuffiness due to either weather condition?
A "normal, healthy person" wouldn't have allergic symptoms, because - like you say - they are "normal and healthy".
A person with allergies would have symptoms at such time as the conditions trigger whatever it is they're allergic to.
....I feel like there is a reason you're asking the question in this way - like, you're starting to experience some stuffiness at certain times and you're having trouble pinpointing what may be causing it, and you're trying to figure out whether you have allergies or whether its just "a normal reaction to weather". Is that the reason why you're asking this question?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:06 AM on May 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
A "normal, healthy person" wouldn't have allergic symptoms, because - like you say - they are "normal and healthy".
A person with allergies would have symptoms at such time as the conditions trigger whatever it is they're allergic to.
....I feel like there is a reason you're asking the question in this way - like, you're starting to experience some stuffiness at certain times and you're having trouble pinpointing what may be causing it, and you're trying to figure out whether you have allergies or whether its just "a normal reaction to weather". Is that the reason why you're asking this question?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:06 AM on May 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
let's say it's like July and I have no allergies.
Allergies can change and develop over time -- like, I had bad allergies growing up, but when I moved to a new place with different types of pollen, they went away for awhile. After a few years, I built up an allergy to the new pollens, and they came back. Also, on particularly high-allergen days, people who don't have daily allergies can exhibit symptoms. July in Virginia is grass pollen season, and hot, dry days tend to be peak pollen days. Rain tends to wash pollen away, eventually lowering levels, but sometimes pollen levels peak as the rain starts, causing what's often called 'thunderclap asthma'.
Mold allergies can also be worse in wet weather, so that's worth considering if rain seems to provoke flare-ups.
You can track local active pollen types and levels by zipcode at pollen.com -- they offer forecasts and 30-day histories, too, if you're trying to peg symptoms to particular days.
posted by halation at 11:10 AM on May 19, 2018
Allergies can change and develop over time -- like, I had bad allergies growing up, but when I moved to a new place with different types of pollen, they went away for awhile. After a few years, I built up an allergy to the new pollens, and they came back. Also, on particularly high-allergen days, people who don't have daily allergies can exhibit symptoms. July in Virginia is grass pollen season, and hot, dry days tend to be peak pollen days. Rain tends to wash pollen away, eventually lowering levels, but sometimes pollen levels peak as the rain starts, causing what's often called 'thunderclap asthma'.
Mold allergies can also be worse in wet weather, so that's worth considering if rain seems to provoke flare-ups.
You can track local active pollen types and levels by zipcode at pollen.com -- they offer forecasts and 30-day histories, too, if you're trying to peg symptoms to particular days.
posted by halation at 11:10 AM on May 19, 2018
Best answer: I don't have allergies (confirmed via tests) but I do get congested in dry weather. My nose really likes humidity.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:39 AM on May 19, 2018
posted by joan_holloway at 11:39 AM on May 19, 2018
Response by poster: I ask because over the years I've noticed congestion on dry and wet days, sometime on neither; and I know things can seem tricky, the body, the mind, etc. So I want to know if there's a standard truth here -- apart from the question of allergies, at least first. I'm simply attempting a scientific one-thing-at-a-time approach. July...it could be October, I just picked a month.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 12:28 PM on May 19, 2018
posted by noelpratt2nd at 12:28 PM on May 19, 2018
> I'm in Virginia. But let's say it's like July and I have no allergies. One day it's hot and dry, one day it rains and is overcast. Would a normal, healthy person experience some change in stuffiness due to either weather condition?
Yes, this happens to me. It's a histamine reaction.
posted by JamesBay at 9:40 AM on May 20, 2018
Yes, this happens to me. It's a histamine reaction.
posted by JamesBay at 9:40 AM on May 20, 2018
I ask because over the years I've noticed congestion on dry and wet days, sometime on neither; and I know things can seem tricky, the body, the mind, etc. So I want to know if there's a standard truth here -- apart from the question of allergies, at least first.
I mean, it's different for everyone. Some people are sensitive to dry conditions, and some are not. Some people are more sensitive to wetter conditions. And everyone's different when it comes to heat vs. cold.
There are so many factors that could be playing into this that trying to narrow down the "normal, healthy person" reaction may be impossible, and besides you are trying to figure out what's going on with you specifically, so you may just want to focus on "how do I react and how do I account for it".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 AM on May 21, 2018
I mean, it's different for everyone. Some people are sensitive to dry conditions, and some are not. Some people are more sensitive to wetter conditions. And everyone's different when it comes to heat vs. cold.
There are so many factors that could be playing into this that trying to narrow down the "normal, healthy person" reaction may be impossible, and besides you are trying to figure out what's going on with you specifically, so you may just want to focus on "how do I react and how do I account for it".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:58 AM on May 21, 2018
Response by poster: Okay, thanks. I've done two sleep studies and no apnea. Never heard about a problem with my nose, just that I get hay fever with spring tree pollen, which used to be ragweed. Can control those. That's runny nose. But stuffy nose: sometimes it's on very different weather-days. Sometimes I think it's dairy products, and if I'm making pizza a given day I usually pop half a dose of Sudafed, the real kind. Also, it's a strange thing but that medicine, though a stimulant, doesn't disturb my sleep or keep me up much at all; in fact it may make me sleep better -- I think.
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:11 PM on May 21, 2018
posted by noelpratt2nd at 1:11 PM on May 21, 2018
Which of the two weathers?
It happens with a sudden plunge to "cool and dry". This can happen after a typhoon, where the temperature will plunge by twenty degrees Celsius overnight, or on the trip back from hot and humid Japan to cool and dry Vancouver in summer.
posted by JamesBay at 7:47 PM on May 21, 2018
It happens with a sudden plunge to "cool and dry". This can happen after a typhoon, where the temperature will plunge by twenty degrees Celsius overnight, or on the trip back from hot and humid Japan to cool and dry Vancouver in summer.
posted by JamesBay at 7:47 PM on May 21, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:10 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]