Noelio's Blog - Humidity... A virtue?

RSS Bot · February 27, 2009

Since December I've been plagued by throat troubles. I know some of you guys have had your own worst health trials, but this is my personal worst for now.

First it started out with 1 slightly swollen tonsil just before Christmas, then a week and a half later, the mother of all sore throats that lasted until February and is still active.

Up until Christmas, I had my window open with a fan up in it, blowing out air thinking I would circulate the air down in the office or studio where I spend 90% of my waking time. Big mistake.

The winter months are known for the dry air, chapped lips, sore throats, cold/flu etc. But I didn't have a clue that this effect could occur indoors, especially around here, one of the world's most *perfect* environments for humidity! But this particular winter has been unusually cold and, by far, unusually dry. So far I've had the worst and scariest problems in my life with my throat, including the single swollen tonsil, completely open/raw mucus membranes, rivers of blood coming from my sinuses etc. Downright frightening, especially when you have a history of smoking, however light a smoker you may be. I've been to emergency once, the doc twice and the dentist twice. It seemed like a perfect storm of negative factors affecting me. I do have a really bad wisdom tooth on the upper deck, which the doc thinks caused the major symptoms during an infection I *may have* had. 1 inflamed tonsil can be a sign of various cancers/lymphomas, heavy random nosebleeds a symptom of blood cancers -I don't bruise easily however. I have no other symptoms and the other glands in my neck only swelled up for a couple days and went away again during antibiotic intake. A good sign of a passing or responsive infection. I've also had troubles with acid reflux to further complicate things. Dry irritated, swollen sore throat with a splash of random stomach acid to top it off! NICE!

I was drinking 3 to 4 Liters of water a day, unusual for me. I would normally drink 1 glass of water a day. Suddenly 12-16??? Whoa!

While I still have throat problems and have to get a couple upper wisdom teeth removed before the docs will further clear me of other unmentionable causes, I started to boil a kettle with a fan behind it in a sort of makeshift humidifier just to test out a theory. WHOA! HUGE change in my throat!!! So last night I went to waddlemart and got a nice Honeywell humidifier made by sweat shop employees in the far east and a couple hydrometers with a National Geographic branding, but also made by, likely, abused/underpaid/overworked/mistreated good people of China. The best purchase of the year!!! And I'm feeling GOOD about it. I don't care who made it or where it was made. I was in no position to have a conscience.

I've never been interested nor have I felt the need to check my humidity levels in the house. Upstairs, it's the lower end of the comfort zone at 45%. Downstairs? Oh my god! 30% in the office/studio, 40% in the other rooms. It should be a LOT more humid down there!!!

Before I replaced the windows and removed the ceiling last summer, I would estimate that the humidity was probably around 65 or 70%. My guitar strings used to rust within a month, windows would fog to bathroom post shower levels. I used to LOVE IT. The insulation has been replaced in the ceiling but we still haven't chosen what to put in it's place... BINGO! The fiberglass is stealing the moisture and some of it escaping to the upper floors, no doubt.

With the humidifier on BUST overnight, I got the humidity at 50%. MASSIVE DIFFERENCE in my throat. Hopefully that's the main cause of my continued agony and things can get back to normal again.

Still got to go and get the 3rd molars yanked. That sucks, but they are useless anyways.

Don't (bushism) misunderestimate (/bushism) the importance of humidity in your homes, especially in the winter months. It's been hell between constant choking feeling, shredded & dry membranes, spontaneous bleeding nose, tonsilitis/uvulitis/bronchitis/Laryngitis/pharyngitis that may be AMPLIFIED greatly, if not outright caused by the low humidity. I'm not out of the woods yet, but this is the most drastic relief I've had since before Christmas. Now hopefully I can get some work done!!!

Lesson learned in hum-ility/idity.

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