Doctors share what sleeping with a fan on does to your body and health - The Independent

Sleeping with a fan on can offer some relief, but too much concentrated air can irritate allergies BookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarks I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Summer heat waves are trickiest at night. When it’s too hot to sleep, you toss and turn on a sweat-soaked mattress. When you resort to air conditioning, you can wake up with dry skin in an ice-cold room. Keeping a trusty fan blowing on you throughout the night seems like it would be the best middle ground for staying cool on humid evenings — but they can also bring on some annoying side effects. Doctors have now revealed the ways that the constant breeze of a fan can affect your health and shared their top tips for reducing any potentially undesirable impacts. Turning a fan on throughout the night can stir up allergens in the room like dust, pollen and pet dander, which can trigger allergies, hay fever or worsen asthma symptoms. “If your airway is already reactive and sensitive, the combination of circulating allergens and dryness can make symptoms like coughing, wheezing, or congestion worse,” says Dr. William Lu, the medical director at digital sleep clinic Dreem Health, according to Tom’s Guide. The fan blades themselves also often have dust collected onto them, which only adds to the particles circulating around the room. When cool air is concentrated on one part of your body for a prolonged period of time, it can cause muscles to tense up or cramp due to super localized blood flow. Because of this, in addition to the fact that your body often stays still for hours at a time during sleep, you can wake up feeling sore, according to a Healthline article reviewed by certified physician Raj Dasgupta. It’s especially common to have a stiff neck. Constant airflow can dry out your nose, mouth and throat, prompting your body to produce more mucus in an attempt to combat the dryness. Overproduction of mucus can cause congestion, bringing on symptoms like a sore throat, stuffy nose, coughing and a sinus headache. Dr. Julius Goh, an ENT specialist, wrote on The ENT Doctor blog: “The mucociliary clearance system (the microscopic hair-like cilia that sweep mucus and allergens out of your nasal passages) needs moisture to function. Dry it out and you’re essentially paralyzing your own nasal immune defense. Allergens sit longer. Symptoms worsen. You wake up sneezing before you’ve even had breakfast.” A steady stream of cool air can also dry out your skin and eyes, making it even worse if you already deal with eczema, psoriasis or dry eye, according to a Verywell Health article reviewed by certified pediatrician Jonathan B. Jassey. If you are still determined to stay cool this summer by sleeping with a fan on, there are precautions you can take to lower the chances of waking up with a sore neck or dry skin. Keeping your fan at a distance and pointed away from you will help manage the temperature in your room and keep air flowing without blowing air directly at you. Better yet, if your fan has an oscillating feature, be sure to turn it on to ensure that the airflow is evenly distributed instead of drying you out. “If you find that you get better rest when sleeping in a cooler temperature, then you should not avoid using a fan entirely,” Dr. Michael DeShields, the clinical advisor of the New Jersey-based Discovery Institute facility, explained. “You can easily eliminate possible negative consequences of using a fan during your sleep period by cleaning your fan at least periodically, replacing the HVAC filters, maintaining your home's humidity level (between 30-50 percent), and positioning the fan so that it blows directly away from your head throughout the entire night.” He advised, “In addition, if you awaken with dry nasal passages, you might consider spraying a saline solution into each nostril prior to going to bed.” Vacuuming and dusting can help prevent dust and other allergens from being spread around your room. It’s also worth making sure to keep the blades on your fan clean to prevent particles from flying around even more. Although it can cause pesky side effects, sleeping with a fan on is not likely to cause any longterm damage or serious illness. However, it is worth noting that fans do not cool the air — they move air across the skin, which helps sweat evaporate and make people feel cooler. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies