High humidity cause both mold colonies and dust mite populations to grow, thereby greatly increasing the total allergen load of allergy sufferers.
So, you may ask what are the low humidity symptoms? Symptoms of low humidity are itchy and dry skin, sore eyes, dry throat, stuffy nose, vulnerability to infections and colds, and damage to wood furniture.
Low Humidity – What Is It?
When it comes to the temperature levels that describe how cold or hot the air in your home, the level of humidity describes the amount of moisture in the air.
During winter when the air is cold, there isn’t a lot of moisture in the air of your home and the levels of humidity can be extremely low.
Different Signs of Low Humidity?
Dry Body, Hair, and Skin
When there’s a lot of moisture in the air, the skin, throat, nose, lips, hair, and some body parts would dry out easily.
It can cause some painful cracks as well as irritations that could make your body and your house feel uncomfortable.
Static Electricity
You should know that you can get a painful shock during winter once you touch a light switch or door handle.
This is because of the static electricity and it’s prevalent in conditions with less humidity.
Your House Feels Cold Even at Normal Temperatures
If you visit 2 houses with the same temperature level, yet every home had a varying humidity level, homes with short humidity level will feel colder compared to homes with a high humidity level.
This is because people tend to feel colder if the humidity is low.
Therefore, if your home is at its comfortable temperature level yet your body feels cold, it is because of the low level of humidity.
Damage to Your House
The body is not the only thing that dries out if the humidity is low.
Your home is also affected by reduced humidity. It is true especially if your home is made of wood since not enough moisture would dry out the wood and might cause it to crack and warp.
Damage due to low moisture may be seen in furniture, ceilings, walls, and floors.
Worsened Symptoms of Illnesses, Allergies, and Asthma
Since lack of humidity has negative effects on the body, it tends to worsen the symptoms of colds, allergies, asthma, flu, and some respiratory illnesses.
If the illnesses spread quickly in your house or more serious than normal, it’s likely a symptom of a less level of humidity in your house.
Other Symptoms
More Illness
As nasal passages dry out due to lack of humidity, the ability of the body to filter out and trap microbes and viruses can cause illness dips.
When sticky membranes lose the capability to filter, more microbes may pass through.
Even worse as mucous membranes crack and dry, they give a direct path to the bloodstream for the pathogens.
This is why flu is often prevalent during the winter and fall.
Scratchy or a Sore Throat
The same thing that’s drawing moisture from one’s nasal passages may affect your throat.
Dry One’s Nasal Passages
If there is more moisture to one’s mucous membranes for moistening the dry air, membranes may dry out faster than the moisture could be replenished by one’s body.
It may manifest itself as painfully cracked and dry sinuses. It may also become very severe that cracked sinuses bleed.
That is why most experience nosebleeds during cooler, drier winter and fall months.
It Can Damage Your Eyes
Other than the effects on the airways and skin, lack of humidity may cause problems with your eyes.
As low humidity saps moisture’s body, it may boost the evaporation of the tears.
The visible tears are due to overproduction of moisture as well as the subsequent inability of canaliculi, which is the part of the tear duct located near the eye, to drain away tears adequately.
The result is overflow, yet what you do not consider is that the eye is bathed in moisture constantly. The absence of humidity may disrupt the balance of moisture and cause watery or itching eyes.
If you are struggling with irritated and dry eyes, the lack of humidity might be a factor since it’s known to increase tears evaporation.
As mentioned, it may disrupt the balance of moisture, which is necessary for a comfortable and healthy eye surface.
Lower humidity combined with colder temperature tends to wreak havoc on the skin as well.
Some may suffer from the scaly, dry, and itchy skin during winter season though they do not have a diagnosable problem on the skin like eczema.
It is usually known as winter itch, which occurs when the skin lacks moisture.
Other than itching, dry air draws moisture out of the skin, which makes small cracks on the surface of the skin.
Although it is rare for the infectious agents on the skin to cause problems, it is usually a problem only a problem once you transfer that to your mouth or nose.
The cracked skin might increase your risk to get sick through giving an entryway for possible harmful pathogens through the cracked skin.
This is true during the winter season and in drier environments where levels of humidity often drop below ten percent.
Based on research published, having proper levels of humidity can help lower the rates of allergies and some respiratory infections.
According to experts, most adverse health effects that are due to RH or relative humidity could be reduced by keeping the indoor levels between forty and sixty percent.
It would need humidification in winter time, particularly in places with colder climates.
Humidification must use evaporative and steam humidifiers for the reason that cool mist humidifiers could disseminate aerosols that are contaminated with some allergens.
What Should You Do If You Are Experiencing Symptoms of Low Humidity
If you’re experiencing several symptoms, the best thing that you should do is to install a humidifier.
Having a humidifier can add more moisture to the air, which can raise the levels of humidity in your home.
