Are you someone who frequently experiences cold, cough, and chest pain during the monsoon season? No worries, here are five essential precautions to safeguard your respiratory health.
As the season changes, monsoon brings in much-needed relief from the scorching heat. Along with fresh breezy air and pouring rain, monsoon poses various challenges to your health, especially respiratory health. People are often seen complaining about experiencing respiratory distress such as shortness of breath, fast heart rate, crackling sound in the lungs, fatigue, chest pain, cough, wheezing, and noisy breathing during monsoon. The moisture and humidity in the air create a perfect atmosphere for the pathogens and fungal bacteria to thrive causing respiratory distress.
Photo Gallery: 5 Foods That Help in Safeguarding Lung Health
The risk of developing respiratory health concerns like influenza, common cold, asthma, pneumonia, and bronchitis significantly rises during the rainy season. People are advised to take necessary precautions and follow safety measures to keep infections and respiratory problems at bay. Dr Samir Garde, Director of Dept of Pulmonology and Lung Transplant, Gleneagles Hospital, Parel shared 5 tips to safeguard your respiratory health during monsoon.
Tips to Protect Your Respiratory Health During Monsoon
- Eat a balanced diet: Your diet should include plenty of vegetables, fruits, lentils, legumes, and whole grains as they possess various nutritional benefits. Mainly opt for vegetables and fruits with essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin E, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids. This helps protect the respiratory cells from getting permanently damaged during the rainy season.
- Limit your outdoor visits: Avoid stepping outdoors if not necessary as the air is filled with pollutants, pathogens, dust particles, and dirt which can be harmful to your respiratory well-being. Ensure that you always check the air quality index (AQI) for real-time updates before heading outdoors. If the AQI level is high then do not forget to carry a mask for better protection.
- Maintain indoor air quality: During monsoons, people rarely step out of their houses if not necessary. It is a common myth that staying indoors means you are free from all the pollutants and bacteria that can aggravate your respiratory issues. However, you are still at high risk of experiencing discomfort as indoor air can be contaminated too. This is why it becomes essential to take necessary precautions to maintain the levels of air quality indoors. You can install air purifiers in your hall and bedrooms as they help eliminate dust, pollen, pet dander, mold, and spores from the air.
- Drink plenty of water: Being hydrated is a good habit that has various health benefits. One should aim for at least 1 to 2 liters of water or any type of fluid per day for maximum hydration. This can significantly help in maintaining and protecting the thin lining of the mucus present in the respiratory tract. Make sure that you drink warm water or fluids like tea, green tea, soup, and stews to keep you warm during the chill weather and provide relief from respiratory distress like cough and sore throat.
- Deep-breathing exercises: If you are easily feeling shortness of breath especially after climbing stairs or doing physical activities then adding deep-breathing exercises to your daily regime can be helpful. Deep-breathing exercise for more than 5 minutes a day can help you stay calm, and increase your lung capacity.