Why do you get sick when you get wet?

outside looking in

outside looking in

<b>Registered Member</b>
I've never quite understood that. In science journals, I've read that people don't get sick in the winter because they "get cold" but simply because they spend more time in close proximity to other people (i.e., people tend to congregate indoors when it's cold outside). The general idea being that viruses or bacteria make you sick, not getting cold or wet.

Well, I played golf yesterday afternnoon, and it rained pretty heavily on us for the last four holes. No... I didn't stop playing, I was playing well. This morning I woke up with sore throat, headache, draining sinuses, etc.

Now, I take a shower quite often, so I get soaking wet on a daily basis. That doesn't make me sick. It wasn't cold yesterday... a nice 80F even during the rain. Quite comfortable actually. So what the hell was it that made me sick? Do bacteria fall from the sky in rain droplets? Do they splash up from the ground? Does rainwater somehow lower your immune defenses moreso than bathwater?

:retard4:
 
Actually, the rainwater would not be nearly as good for you as bathwater, but I think the main thing is lowering your body temperature for the extended period of time. When you take a shower, you probably use water that is warmer than your body temp, and you most likely dry off when you are done. When you got rained on, assuming the rain was the same temp as the air, 80F, it was a 20 degree drop in temp, plus the wind, plus you didn't dry off for probably an hour or more, so your body temp probably dropped a good 5 degrees or so, which allows a whole variety of bacteria to grow that would otherwise be kept in check.

At least that's what I think.
 
I think is actually the temperature changes in your body that makes it more vulnerable to potential diseases in the enviroment.

When youy take a shower or a bath, you dry off, and you are not exposed to air currents. Water evaporization (evaporation?) feels cold in your body, so it probably has something to do with the temp changes.

Just a thought.
 
maybe it was a reaction to the pollen in the air. hay fever type of thing.
i have a white car that is an excellent pollen collector. i've seen it get a much darker yellow after a heavy rain. the rain sucks the pollen up like a sponge. maybe you inhaled, injested, absorbed more than normal.
 
OK, so you're telling me that I alread had these bacteria living in my sinuses or wherever (very believable), and that they had a chance to grow simply because of the drop in body temperature over an extended period of time?

That makes sense I guess. I've seen people get sick after spending a day swimming in a pool with enough chemicals to kill anything other than large animals (like people). Always wondered how you caught something from a pretty sterile environment.

So the moral of the story is to keep your body temperature up, even if you are completely comfortable in the 80F rain? :anifingr:
 
Or maybe you can just be a sicky ninny like me who is of no viable use to anybody or anything in this world and is obselete :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top