We know many individuals love winter. And we get it, the snow is pretty, chilly temps can sometimes be pleasantly bracing, and we all love building snow snowmen. But there are a number of drawbacks. It never fails, after a lot of time spent enjoying the wonderful winter weather, your body reacts. Your nose won’t stop running, you’re coughing, and your throat is sore. Sometimes, this turns into a full-blown cold.
So… can weather affect your tonsils? It’s possible that these throat issues can be traced back to your tonsils since they’re a major part of your immune system. You might be able to stay a little healthier this winter if you boost your immune system (and your tonsils).
Cold temperature can affect your health
So let’s get this out of the way: cold weather doesn’t make you sick. Viruses and bacteria make you sick and you don’t catch those from going out into the cold. But cold weather can have an affect on your health by lowering your body’s defenses and occasionally even wreaking a little havoc on your respiratory tract. But it’s the virus that makes you sick, not the cold itself.
One of the primary culprits here is the air. Cold temperatures usually mean very dry air. If you normally get a soar throat only when it’s cold, it may be because the dry air is drying out the mucus lining in your throat. The available germ-fighting mucus is decreased by the dry air as well.
Here are a few other reasons why your health may be impacted by cold weather:
- During the winter season, when it’s cloudy and cold, we normally spend more time indoors. This means you’re likely to absorb less vitamin D from the sun. An efficiently working immune system needs vitamin D, and when it doesn’t get enough, it won’t be working at optimum energy.
- You’ll be inside more often. And this means you’ll be inside with other people, usually with little to no airflow. Germs may have an easier time passing from person to person (and you’re a little more likely to get ill as a result).
- Your body temperature might drop just a wee bit. When you’re in the cold, your body might not be able to produce heat as quickly as it loses it. If your body falls below 95 degrees fahrenheit it can lead to hypothermia and if you’re losing heat too fast over time, this condition can happen. When your body has to put a lot of its energy reserves into staying warm, it will have less available for the immune system to combat illness.
How does cold weather impact your tonsils?
Your tonsils are a significant part of your immune system. They’re two big bundles of lymph cells in the back of your throat. They can help filter out germs (which means you suck fewer germs directly into your lungs, and that’s good for your respiratory system). They even make antibodies. You can view them as the rather virtuous gatekeepers of your respiratory tract.
So how are your tonsils affected by cold weather?
Although it’s not the cold weather by itself that causes sickness, it does have an affect on your tonsils. It works like this:
- The more frequently you get sick, the more difficult your tonsils need to work.
- This means there’s a higher chance that your tonsils can become swollen and inflamed (inflammation is a normal immune reaction).
- A two or three day (plus) soar throat can be the result.
Tonsillitis is the name of this tonsil infection. Tonsillitis in the winter is no fun, but if your tonsillitis doesn’t clear up on its own, long term infections can cause even more problems:
- Airways that are obstructed by inflamed tonsils. This can make it hard to breathe.
- Pockets of pus that develop behind your tonsils.
This will reduce the entire body’s immunity over time. Lymph cells, your tonsils included, are an essential aspect of your immune system. So you might be more susceptible to infections if your tonsils aren’t working at full capacity (or have a slower recovery when you do get ill).
Tonsillitis will usually present symptoms very similar to a cold or flu. That’s why identifying tonsillitis can be a little tricky.
Battling tonsillitis caused by cold weather
Your tonsils aren’t necessarily doing a poor job, but they sometimes need a little help. With the correct accessories, you can do just that.
You can control your winter throat problems by using these tactics:
- Drink tea: Tea has nutrients in it that are good for your general health. Warm tea can increase your body temperature and replenish your mucus membranes, but after 2 pm you should limit yourself to a tea that is caffeine free such as herbal tea.
- Take vitamin D supplements: If you haven’t been out in the sun in a few days (a few months?), take some vitamin D supplements in pill form. A sunlamp will also work. Or perhaps a trip to Mongolia (the Gobi Desert, located in Mongolia, is one of the sunniest places on earth).
- Dress warmly: If you allow your body temperature to get too low for too long it can be a serious issue. Your immune system will have a more difficult time fighting illness if can’t keep warm. So bundle up and go sit next to the fire.
- Use a humidifier in your home, especially in the winter: This will help stop the air from getting too dry. Mucus helps the immune system protect your body from infection, and when the air has more moisture your immune system will have more of it to work with.
- Gargle with salt water: You can rinse away surface germs and soothe your soar throat by gargling with salt water.
- Make sure you get outside: You need to get vitamin D whether it’s cold or warm. So put on your parka and go for a hike!
Your tonsils might have to be removed if they can’t stay healthy
How long does a sore throat from cold air stick around? Your sore throat will usually last until you get out of the dry, cold air. Going into warmer, more humid air should make the sore throat clear right up. Unless there’s an infection, like tonsillitis.
Usually, tonsillitis will subside by itself within a few days. But occasionally, this kind of infection can become chronic, or repeat often. In these situations, a tonsillectomy may be necessary. While it isn’t quite as common as it once was (we know a lot more about tonsils now), tonsillectomy is still sometimes the best way to give relief to patients.
We will be able to help you figure out whether a tonsillectomy is appropriate for you, or whether there are other viable treatments to try first.