Clients have been asking me how important it really is. And which one to get. And what I've noticed over the years in terms of frequency of illness, and vulnerability in terms of respiratory illness.
SUMMARY- cool mist Humidifiers, not ultrasonic, cleaned well once a week, run 24/7 make a significant difference boosting the health and illness- resisting capacity of your lungs, sinuses, and bronchioles.
Cool mist humidifiers that are not ultrasonic. They produce the least amount of harmful microbes, because the water remains cold. Ultrasonic breaks pieces of dust into tiny pieces, which are even more harmful than regular dust, so avoid those.
Please use your common sense, and both change your humidifier filter every few weeks, and don't fall for those humidifiers advertised as not needing filters.
Obviously, the filters are filtering particles from the air that should not be spewing out in the moisture.
Any humidifier is fine. If you filter the water, it will last longer.
You really really need to scrub it with soap and water or vinegar water every 4 to 5 days to a week. After an illness, the filter has more microbes sucked from the air, so clean or replace the filter.
When you clean it, find all the gooey little places that are growing microbes, and clean them out. Only takes a few minutes.
And no, myself, I wouldn't add essential oils. Not all the time. Use them when they're specifically needed.
Put your humidifier somewhere where it's convenient to wash well, and if you leave it running 24-7, it will gradually increase the moisture levels of your whole house.
Using a humidifier in a bedroom that is a sickroom can be a godsend. Just make sure, with the construction of the walls, but you don't notice the walls becoming slick so that it's all too much.
Rooms that have wallboard made of fake looking wood have a high content of from aldehyde. Humidifiers encourage the formaldehyde to come out in fumes into the room. So be careful.
The same is true of relatively new houses, with walls made of particle board, which also has a good amount of both construction adhesives and from aldehyde that are actively offgassing for several years. Materials like that Ofgas more rapidly in conditions that are warm and humid.
Air that's heated in the winter has all of its moisture cooked out of it. We are then breathing air that is dry and difficult for our bodies, air that is unlike most outdoor air.
Humidified air has a nice content of moisture and it protects the mucous membranes of the lungs and bronchioles, throat and sinuses. It's like they're getting a drink of water all the time.
Once nosebleeds begin, it's hard to shield the injured tissue. So, better to start right off with a humidifier in use the entire time your heat is turned on.
Gwen 'a Magic Oil is antimicrobial in small gentle ways , safe for daily use. Placing a little bit of that, good quality olive oil, or an herbal salve on your finger, and running it inside each nostril, will moisten and heal the tissue, protecting it from further injury. When the injured tissues have healed,it then becomes safe once again to blow your nose, and there will be no more nosebleeds.
Try to remember that Petroleum Jelly is made of that - petroleum!!! so that is actually what you are putting into your body.
Vitamin C with bioflavonoids are helpful and a safe way of both boosting immune function, and healing tissues of the body, so those tissues injured by over dried air that then begin to experience nosebleeds.
Putting the humidifier in your bathroom, and sitting for a while reading, can be like a steam bath, and very rejuvenating for sensitive or chronically challenged respiratory tissue, a flu or cold.
And then of course, the old-fashioned way is remarkable. Boiling hopefully filtered water, and then leaning over it with a towel over your head, inhaling.
When my oldest was a kid, and had a respiratory illness, I would go out into the woods and gather Pineneedles, cut off the stems, boil water, and let the Pineneedles simmer for a bit, and then have him lean over with a towel over his head.
Pine forests foster the froth of so many anti microbial factors that walking in Pine Forests is beneficial for chronic respiratory illness.
Later, whenever I got sick or had a cough, even as a kid, he would go running out and gather pine needles for me, preparing for me the same remedy.
Humidifier use needs to be right up there with storm windows, gloves, hats, and warm coats. Oh, and Tea, stews, toasty warm feet , and wonderful walks, all bundled up, out-of-doors!
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