Coping with the harmattan weather

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Aunty Nurse
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Coping with the harmattan weather

Unread post by Aunty Nurse »

Harmattan is here again. It is one of the seasons in Nigeria but it usually comes around the Christmas period and lasts till the New Year.

The harmattan weather can be very cold, dry and dusty. One should expect heavy winds and chilly weather in the morning.

There are many health challenges that show up in many individuals this period. It is the time to keep warm before going to bed in order to avoid being exposed to cold weather-related problems in the morning.
It first starts with trivial illnesses such as cracking of lips, dry skin, cold, catarrh and cough; and gradually, it becomes more serious to headaches and sinus.
It’s important to stay safe and healthy, especially because really cold temperatures bring risks.

Please look after yourself and follow these cautions to cope better with cold weather.
Dressing If you have to go outside, you must dress warmly. Even if you are only making a short journey, be sure to dress in lots of layers.
Another way to cope with extreme cold weather in terms of dressing is to look after your extremities and exposed areas. Hats, scarves, gloves and appropriate footwear are all a must.

Moisturize your skin
The cold weather can be particularly harsh on the skin if you don’t protect it appropriately, leaving you looking dull, tired and even older.
It’s important to bear in mind the effects of having to keep warm on the skin this period. While it might leave you feeling warmer, it can also dry out the skin.
Keeping a lip balm in your pocket, car and handbag for constant applications will keep chapped, dry lips at bay.

Eat soup and hot foodsEating hot soup is the best answer of all to the cold weather, because not only does it warm you up, it also fills your belly.
Eating hot food would also ensure that bacteria and virus do not thrive in your belly.

Finally, you must not forget to stay hydrated by drinking loads and loads of water.
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Kunle Emmanuel
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Re: Coping with the harmattan weather

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

The nights are longer, the dust keeps rising, everyone feels the terrible cold...how are you coping in this harmattan period?

harmatan.png
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Re: Coping with the harmattan weather

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Harmattan is not the best of time for asthma patients due to much amounts of dust associated with the season. The dry, cold and dusty wind associated with harmattan also triggers sickle cell crises in affected individuals.

There are so many challenges one could face during this period like cracking of lips or breaking of lips, sole of the feet, cold, dry skin, catarrh, cough and a lot more but among all, cold is the major problem.

Experts stress that, to effectively curtail the evil effects of the harmattan season, everyone must be ready to play by the rules and improve on their hygiene during this period.

Also, expert assert that, prolonged daily exposure to cold weather as an open invitation to diseases like rheumatism, cardiac arrest, pneumonia and arthritis; and, in severe cases, death from hypothermia, because the respiratory system suffers greatly when the body is exposed to cold and dry weather.

Research shows that, between November and March, quite a lot of fire outbreaks are often recorded since there is dry wind, which makes it easy for fire to spread at the slightest ignition, causing destruction of lives and property. Hence, there is need to take more preventive measures during harmattan.

More so, farmers should avoid bush burning, regrettably, the act of bush burning often result in severe losses to farmers as it is more difficult to curtail the rage of the fire during harmattan.

Furthermore, the preponderance style of government to create artificial scarcity of petroleum products during the end year and the New Year, basically leads to panic and storage of petrol in odd places at home and offices which has wreak great havoc.
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