The Health Blog by Ryan Healy

Exercise for Colds

I got a small cold on Friday. My daughter caught it first, then passed it to me, my wife, and my son. Fortunately, it was short lived. We were all feeling back up to speed by Sunday.

Whenever I have a cold or stuffy nose, I like to go to the gym and exercise. I know it sounds weird, but I've noticed that a good cardio workout really clears up congestion and (it seems) speeds my recovery.

Exercising when you've got a cold is contrary to other recommendations that say you will recover more quickly if you take to bed as soon as possible. And among the many cold cures I've searched for, I can't find anyone telling people with colds to exercise.

In fact, one source recommends not exercising. He says:

"Many of my patients ask me if they can exercise with a cold. My recommendation is to stop exercising for the first day or two when the symptoms are worst. Don't push yourself; this will only weaken your immune system and prolong the cold. Wait until the third or fourth day when you are feeling yourself to resume exercise."

I prefer to exercise when I feel the cold coming on or even during the cold. Although I won't push myself if I'm really feeling bad.

What are your thoughts? Do you use exercise to help get over a cold? Or do you avoid exercise altogether?

Humidifier for Croup

My daughter has croup. And we're trying to prevent it from progressing to the "strident cough" the nurse warned us about. So I went out and purchased a $140 humidifier last night to replace the $9 Vicks humidifier we've been using.

The humdifier is an Air-O-Swiss. Instead of merely boiling the water like the Vicks version does, this one heats the water, generates a micro-fine mist through high-frequency vibration, then blows the mist into the room through a swivel-spout.

What's cool is that this Air-O-Swiss humidifier works whether you heat the water or not. You can heat the water before it's turned into a mist if you want the room temperature to remain stable; or you can leave the water at its normal temperature if you want to cool the room slightly.

According to the booklet of instructions I received with the Air-O-Swiss, dry air is a liability. This is what the booklet says:

Did you know that dry room air:

• Causes the membranes in your respiratory system to dry out, and also causes chapped lips and stinging eyes?
• Encourages infections and illnesses of the respiratory system?
• Causes weariness, tiredness and poor concentration?
• Stresses pets and house plants?
• Encourages the formation of dust and the electrostatic charging of textiles made of synthetic fibers, carpets and plastic flooring?
• Damages furnishings made of wood and parquet?
• Detunes musical instruments?

I haven't investigated, but I suspect that what the booklet says is true. But I also wonder, why don't that say that on the packaging of the box? Why tell me after I've purchased?

I was going to purchase the humidifier for my daughter anyway, but it seems this kind of information would persuade more people to pick up an Air-O-Swiss to alleviate all those negative things the booklet lists.

By the way, Annabelle slept through the night last night. No coughing attacks. That's a big improvement over the night before last when she coughed herself awake at 2:30 in the morning. (Yes, Stephanie and I were exhausted yesterday. But that's the way it goes with kids! :-)