Can a patient wash with a sore throat?

Visiting a sauna for a sore throat

Since ancient times, our ancestors visited the bathhouse not only for personal hygiene, but also to strengthen the immune system.
In Rus', bath procedures were considered a cure for many diseases. Steam and hot air increase sweating, and along with excess fluid, pathogenic bacteria come out. Using some traditional methods, the organs of the respiratory system with hot air vapor will relax. You may feel a strong urge to cough - and that's good. A cough will release mucus that contains viruses and infections. Therefore, do not ignore this desire and listen to your body.

Let's look at some methods that will help speed up your recovery.

As you know, the bath has a healing effect. But is it possible to take a steam bath with a sore throat, because an important sign of the disease is elevated temperature. How will you feel sick after a bath? Questions of this kind concern many people, and often those who are treated with traditional methods.

Often, patients who suffer from a sore throat try to cure this ailment by going to the bathhouse. At the same time, there are also patients who believe that treatment in this way is ineffective and sometimes dangerous.

If we consider one of the sides of the steam room, then it is an excellent place for performing such a procedure as inhalation. Thanks to the hot air that predominates in the bath, it has a warming effect on the throat and facilitates the development of the disease.

Patients also experience exacerbations of chronic diseases, if any. If a person has various types of chronic diseases or a weakened immune system, going to the steam room when sick is not recommended. For children, a bath with a sore throat is also contraindicated.

Those patients who frequently visit the steam room are allowed to take a steam bath.

It is important to remember one rule! You cannot steam even with a slight increase in temperature from the norm. Since there is a threat of deterioration in the patient’s well-being, and the temperature will become higher.

An important point is that it is recommended to steam if you are ill only in your own steam room. When visiting a public steam room, it is possible to transmit the infection to healthy people.

Most people who are sick try not to swim. This is not necessary, because this procedure does not in any way affect the development of the disease. What you don’t need to do is avoid washing your hair, otherwise the temperature will rise.

The effect of the steam room on the body

To understand what will happen to the body when staying in a steam room, you need to study the beneficial and harmful properties of the bath.

Beneficial features:

• cleansing the respiratory system from mucus;
• improving blood circulation, strengthening the immune system;
• activation of regeneration processes;
• reduction in muscle fatigue and pain intensity;
• removal of waste and toxins.

The body is cleansed, the general condition improves. Going to the bathhouse is most useful after a sore throat.

In addition to the benefits, the steam room can also cause harm to the body:

• at high temperatures and high humidity, pathogens multiply faster;
• if the patient has a high temperature, the body may become overloaded;
• Accelerating blood circulation can cause bacteria to spread throughout the body.
• attacks of suffocation are possible if a person has swelling of the nasopharynx;
• deterioration of health, increase in body temperature;
• exacerbation of chronic diseases.

In addition, the bath can worsen the functioning of the cardiovascular system if the patient has active forms of colds.

If a person dares to go to the steam room with a sore throat, he must follow certain rules:

1. Measure your body temperature several hours before visiting the bathhouse. If it is below 37, you can go to the steam room.
2. Monitor your own condition. If you feel worse from exposure to steam, you must immediately leave the steam room, wait until your body cools down, and go home.
3. If you have a purulent sore throat, it is better to avoid visiting the bathhouse altogether.
4. To make your trip to the steam room more effective, you need to prepare in advance. To do this, you need to soak a broom with eucalyptus or mint essential oil.
5. You cannot plunge into a cold pool, river, or ice hole after visiting the steam room. Hypothermia is unacceptable.
6. Drink as much water as possible. Medicinal teas based on birch leaves, elderberry, and linden are suitable.

It is recommended to carry out bath procedures alone so as not to infect others. Doctors advise playing it safe and calling a friend to wait in the dressing room. If it gets worse, he will help. Before going to the steam room, you should consult with your doctor.

Visiting a bathhouse with a sore throat is a purely individual process, so it’s worth understanding the positive and negative aspects of the steam room.

The advantages of the steam room are as follows:

• Thanks to hot air and the presence of steam, the inhalation process occurs. Various essential oils are dripped onto the hot stones of the bathhouse and inhaled;
• in the bathhouse, the nasopharynx, back, chest are perfectly warmed up, as if creating the effect of a compress;
• there is an opportunity to sweat;
• when the body heats up to 39 degrees, metabolism accelerates, the body’s defenses come into play, then bacteria and viruses die;
• the steam room improves the immune system;
• waste and toxins come out through the skin with sweat;
• Thanks to herbal infusions and the correct selection of brooms, the bath has a healing effect.

We invite you to find out what is more beneficial: a sauna or a Russian bath

The disadvantages of the steam room are:

• a weakened body from an illness is exposed to hot steam and high temperature, which contributes to the development of problems with the cardiac and vascular system;
• possible exacerbation of chronic ailments;
• the negative impact of the steam room on a weak immune system;
• deterioration of health and increase in temperature;
• you cannot visit a public bathhouse to avoid infecting others;
• severe course of the disease, severe swelling of the nasopharynx can provoke an attack of suffocation.

If a person often visits the bathhouse, then going to take a steam bath if you are ill, it will not harm. But if you don’t have the habit of steaming, and then you want to try this method during an illness, then it’s better not to do it, otherwise you can worsen your health.

When should you not visit the bathhouse?

Going to the sauna cannot be called a universal way to relieve symptoms of acute respiratory infections. In one case, vaping accelerates the healing process, and in another, it aggravates the course of the disease. According to practice, it is advisable to visit the sauna only at the initial stage of the development of colds, as well as immediately after their elimination. In what situations can you not combine steaming with a cold?

• transition of a cold to the acute phase. If the first signs of acute respiratory infections appeared two or three days ago, you should stop vaping. In this case, an increase in body temperature will create optimal conditions for more intensive development of viral or bacterial flora. Visiting the bathhouse during this period can provoke complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia, meningitis, etc.;
• presence of hyperthermia. Even a slight increase in temperature may indicate the presence of inflammatory processes in the mucous membranes of the respiratory system. Any thermal effect on ENT organs affected by pathogens is unacceptable, since this promotes the production of prostaglandins in the body;
• development of herpetic disease. Herpes often occurs against the background of weakened immune defenses. During the process of vaping, the activity of the herpetic virus increases many times, which can lead to worsening health.

Since doctors are against steam rooms for sore throats, it is worth considering their professional opinion. Otherwise, several hours of pleasure risk ending with unforeseen consequences and complications.

You cannot risk your health and the health of those around you frivolously. This illness lasts ten days, which is realistically possible without this procedure. But hygiene procedures cannot be neglected, so you need to take a bath or shower regularly.

Aromatherapy against acute respiratory infections

Inhalation of hot and moist steam affects the body in a similar way to inhalation. In the process of warming and moistening the airways, pathogens are destroyed and sputum in the lungs is liquefied. Such reactions help improve the drainage function of the bronchi and speedy evacuation of mucus from the respiratory system.

You can enhance the inhalation effect with the help of aromatherapy. To prepare a medicinal solution, 1 liter of boiled water is mixed with approximately 20-25 drops of essential oils. Some of the most effective oils include:

• spruce and lavender;
• ginger and sandalwood;
• juniper and lemon balm;
• tea tree and fir;
• bergamot and peppermint;
• eucalyptus and lemon.

During the steaming process, the prepared solution is poured onto hot stones, which creates the effect of therapeutic inhalation.

Inhalation with essential oils

Essential oils have an antibacterial, antiviral effect, relieve coughs, runny nose, relieve sinus inflammation, reduce muscle pain, and increase sweating. You can use them at home in the bathroom or take them with you to the bathhouse.

The most effective for sore throat are:

1. eucalyptus;
2. thyme;
3. pine;
4. spruce;
5. lavender;
6. cinnamon;
7. cypress.

Oils from these plants will help quickly eliminate the disease. Therefore, in the steam room you need to use:

• 2 drops of thyme essential oil;
• 2 drops of tea tree oil;
• 4 drops lemon oil;
• 1 drop of eucalyptus oil.

If you have your own sauna or bathhouse with a bathtub or small pool, then you can use the following method. Add the following ingredients to the heated water:

1. 5 drops of pine essential oil;
2. 4 drops of eucalyptus oil;
3. 1 cup sea salt.

Before plunging into the bath, stir the water by hand. After taking water procedures, you need to wrap yourself in a warm blanket and drink a hot glass of milk with honey.

Medicinal tea

When visiting a bathhouse during a cold, you can also use teas based on medicinal plants. They help to increase the reactivity of the immune system, as a result of which symptoms of the disease such as:

• sore throat;
• runny nose;
• headache;
• body aches;
• malaise.

Important! It is advisable to drink herbal teas after steaming.

It is better to take the following herbs as a basis for preparing an anti-cold drink:

• linden;
• thyme;
• currants;
• St. John's wort;
• peppermint;
• chamomile;
• raspberry leaves.

When your throat hurts, going to the bathhouse may be the right decision. However, you won’t be able to just relax and have a quiet time. Your first goal is to eliminate pain in the respiratory system. Therefore, take everything you need with you, and most importantly, don’t forget the ingredients for the medicinal tea.

To relieve a sore throat you need the following products:

1. herbs (this could be chamomile, linden, mint, thyme);
2. lemon;
3. cinnamon;
4. ginger;
5. natural honey

After visiting the steam room with essential oils, when you have lost a lot of liquid, it is recommended to brew medicinal tea. With the aroma of tea you will get rid of not only fatigue, but also sore throat.

How to treat a sore throat at home

In order to ease a sore throat, it is recommended to drink as much fluid as possible. You can drink water, tea, warm milk with honey, herbal infusions and juices. It is not recommended to drink carbonated and alcoholic drinks. Freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices will enrich the body with beneficial vitamins and microelements. It’s worth taking a multivitamin complex to boost your immunity. It is recommended to walk more and breathe fresh air.

In order to relieve inflammation, you can purchase lollipops with extracts of mint, sage, and eucalyptus. These drugs perfectly soften the mucous membrane and relieve pain, however, lollipops are unable to relieve the disease on their own. It is not recommended to eat these lollipops as they contain a large amount of sugar. People suffering from diabetes should never take this drug. To treat sore throat, you can use special lozenges; they not only relieve inflammation and pain, but also fight the cause of the disease. You can buy such tablets at any pharmacy without a prescription.

You definitely need to gargle. To do this, it is better to use ordinary salt water. A herbal decoction will also help get rid of the disease. You can make water with lemon or apple cider vinegar. This solution perfectly relieves inflammation and pain. If there is no opportunity or desire to prepare a rinse solution yourself, then you can buy it at the pharmacy. But before purchasing, it is recommended to consult a pharmacist. Since not all antiseptics can be used to rinse the throat and mouth.

Massage treatments

To eliminate the symptoms of acute respiratory infections and speedy recovery, experts recommend steaming in a sauna with a broom. Massage speeds up the blood circulation process, which promotes the rapid removal of waste and toxins from the body. To carry out the procedure, it is better to take one of the following brooms:

• birch – eliminates muscle pain and helps thin the mucus in the bronchi;
• linden – promotes sweating and cleansing tissues of pathogen metabolites;
• juniper – disinfects the air in the steam room, which accelerates the process of eliminating pathogenic flora in the respiratory system;
• eucalyptus - helps relieve cough, runny nose and sore throat.

The manifestation of acute respiratory infections symptoms is associated with severe intoxication of the body, which occurs due to the active proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms in the mucous membranes of the ENT organs. To cleanse the body of waste products of pathogens and alleviate the course of the disease, you can use “sweating” rubbing.

To prepare the medicine, you need to mix melted honey and table salt in equal proportions. The heated mixture is applied to the skin in a steam room to speed up the sweating process. For incipient rhinitis, cough and throat discomfort, this procedure works no worse than medication.

You can treat a cough in the sauna, but this must be done carefully. Unlike a sauna, the air in a sauna is dry, its humidity is less than 20%, so a sore throat or dry mucous membranes may occur.

For those who, for medical reasons, cannot visit the sauna and bathhouse, an alternative will be hot inhalations - the transfer of medicinal substances to the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract through inhalation of heated vapors with a temperature of 30 degrees and above.

When not to wash with a sore throat

Any water procedures are prohibited if the patient has:

• malignant hypertension, history of heart attacks or acute cerebrovascular accidents;
• pneumonia;
• heart pathologies;
• joint diseases;
• diabetes mellitus

In addition, indications for abstaining from visiting the bathroom are the following:

1. High body temperature (37.5 degrees and above).
2. Reduced body temperature. Often the opposite picture is observed, in which the body of a patient with tonsillitis is weakened so much that his body temperature is below normal, resulting in dizziness and weakness. In this case, there is no point in swimming.
3. In the absence of fever, but in the presence of general weakness or nausea, it is best to avoid taking a shower.
4. Rooms with high humidity are not suitable for water treatments. Under such conditions, there will be an increase in mucus, worsening cough and rhinitis. It is important that the bathroom is equipped with a good hood.
5. It is not recommended to bathe a patient who has a purulent form of tonsillitis.

Obviously, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to go to the bathhouse or swim with a sore throat is of a purely individual nature. In the absence of obvious contraindications and compliance with hygiene rules, as well as taking into account the patient’s well-being, water procedures may well benefit the body.

In this video, Dr. Komarovsky will tell you the basic rules for treating sore throat:

Alternatives to bath treatments

When you have a cold, if not only your throat hurts, but also your head, your whole body aches, using a broom can cope with many symptoms.

Making the right choice:

1. Broom made of coniferous plants. It can be spruce, fir or juniper. With its use, you are guaranteed to disinfect the air in the steam room and improve sweating.
2. Linden broom. Relieves fatigue, calms irritability.
3. Birch broom. Removes mucus from the respiratory tract, improves sweating.
4. Eucalyptus broom. Kills bacteria in the air, reduces cough and sore throat. It is also useful to breathe over a steamed broom. To do this, you need to pour boiling water over it and press it to your face. Inhale the vapors with deep breaths for 3-5 minutes.

The choice is yours, but as you can see, a eucalyptus broom will do just fine.

Features of behavior in the sauna during acute respiratory infections

A sauna for a cold will only be useful if you follow these recommendations:

1. do not subject your body to constant stress by creating steam shocks by regularly adding water to hot stones;
2. If you have an acute respiratory infection, it is not advisable to enter the steam room more than three times, since a significant temperature difference can negatively affect your well-being;
3. at the end of the procedure, it is advisable to drink tea with medicinal herbs to speed up the detoxification process of the body.

That is why you should not resort to a similar method of relieving cold symptoms if:

• hyperthermia;
• tuberculosis;
• atherosclerosis;
• oncology;
• epilepsy;
• diabetes mellitus;
• bronchial asthma;
• thyroid dysfunction.

The bath is an alternative way to eliminate the first signs of colds. Thanks to steaming, you can prevent the transition of the disease to the acute phase. But to obtain the necessary therapeutic effect, it is advisable to perform additional procedures: massage with a linden or juniper broom, rubbing with a honey-salt mixture and inhalation solutions with essential oils.

During the period of a cold, it is not recommended to visit the bathhouse, take hot baths, or wash your hair. Since a steamy person can easily catch a cold without even going outside.

Sore throat in this case is no exception. Many of the forms of the disease pose a health hazard, so there is no guarantee that such an experiment with a bathhouse will not have a detrimental effect on well-being.

The symptoms of the disease are difficult to confuse with other diseases.

1. Weakness.
2. Unbearable pain in the throat.
3. Difficulty swallowing.
4. Swelling and redness of the throat.
5. Enlargement of the tonsils, the formation of white plaque or purulent plugs on them.
6. Heat.

Having discovered these symptoms, the patient will need bed rest, do not take a hot shower, avoid baths, do not get too cold, and walk in damp weather. It is not recommended to wash your hair and avoid drafts. If there is no high temperature, you are allowed to wash yourself, but do not wet your hair, chest, back, or neck.

If the patient has a high temperature, you should not carry out water procedures, but rather wipe yourself with a dampened towel.

At the same time, do not overheat the body and do not sharply cool the body. A hot bath or sauna is unacceptable in this case.

Is it possible to swim with a sore throat?

At fever, the sweat glands release various toxins from the body, which accumulate in the body during illness. Ideally, you should get rid of them. In case of a mild form of sore throat, it is better to refuse washing and wait for recovery, but if the infection makes itself felt for a week or more, then the patient is allowed to bathe, taking into account the following recommendations:

1. The bathroom should be warm, drafts are not allowed.
2. The time spent in the water is kept to a minimum.
3. The permitted water temperature varies from 34 to 37 degrees.
4. After bathing, the patient is wiped dry, given warm tea or milk to drink, put to bed, and if there is no elevated body temperature, a compress is applied to the throat.
5. It is best to bathe in the evening hours just before going to bed.

In order to speed up the healing process, you can add decoctions of medicinal herbs or essential oils to the bath if the patient does not have allergic reactions to any of the components.
Sick children need a special approach. During the period of exacerbation of the disease, when there is a high temperature, body weakness and nausea, visiting the bathroom remains prohibited. When the cold subsides and the baby’s general condition is close to normal, you can begin short-term water procedures. The only thing is that experts advise bathing the child in water whose temperature will be several degrees higher than usual, and only after the disease has completely subsided does the water temperature return to its normal value.

If you bathe a child, it is important to know at what temperature of water this can be done. About this in the video below: