How many times we have heard each other: “Don’t leave the house with the wet haircould you get sick! “? This belief is widespread for generations, so much so that many mothers, worried about the health of their children as when they want to bathe the sea after eating, they prohibit they to go out outdoors without having first dried the hair. But is there really a scientific basis behind this idea? No, it is a false myth. Especially in the winter months, we tend to believe that going out with damp hair makes us more vulnerable to cold, increasing the risk of colds or other ailments, but it is not so.
First of all, the cold is not caused by exposure to cold, but by contact with virus transmitted by people already infected. Neither the low temperatures nor the wet hair outdoors are responsible for the classic nose that drips: the real culprit is the infection. Furthermore, there are no sufficient scientific studies and solid enough to demonstrate that staying outdoors with wet hair, even with rigid temperatures, has direct consequences on health. However, the cold can weaken Temporarily the immune system, making the body more vulnerable to viruses when it comes into contact.
Wet hair is not the cause of ailments
The coldas well as theinfluenceCovid-19 and other respiratory infections, they are not caused by the coldnor with wet hair, but by contact with viruses and bacteria transmitted through respiratory droplets, contaminated surfaces or direct contact with infected people. If the cold were truly the manager, the populations of the Nordic countries, exposed to constantly low temperatures, should always be sick. But that’s not the case.
Statistics show that colds (mainly caused by Rhinovirus) and the influence (whose main managers are family viruses Orthomyxovirus) are more common in winter not because of the cold itself, but because in this season we spend more time in closed environmentsincreasing the risk of contagion. This explains the flu peaks in the cold months, without blaming its low temperatures.
The consequences on the health of leaving the wet hair
In scientific literature There are no sufficient studies to demonstrate it. A single research of 2012 hypothesizes that the exposure of damp hair to cold can cause heachache sinus and pain behind the eyes, perhaps due to a vascular compensation mechanism and the level of the nasal sinuses for limit heat dispersion. The same study, however, invites you to take these results with cautionwaiting for further confirmations.
Some research suggests that cold in general could make our immune system more vulnerablefacilitating the activation of viruses already present in the body, or making us more susceptible to contagion. In other words, thehumidity It is not the direct cause of colds or influence, but if we have already been infected or we are exposed to some pathogen, the cold could encourage the proliferation of the virus due to a lowering of the immune defenses.
In conclusion, drying your hair before going out is one good precaution, But not an infallible method to avoid colds or flu. The popular belief today remains in fact a false myth, even if it could have a small bottom of truth, but not in the way you think: more studies would be needed to check for any other effects, such as headache from sinusitis.
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