Can Running in Very Cold Weather Affect Your Lungs? (Read 7160 times)

Crystal, I would. It may never get worse, but then again, it may. Better safe than sorry. Asthma can be a death sentence if not controlled. Mine's relatively minor, but I figure...hey, anything to help make running more pleasant and efficient is a good thing.

Okay...here is some perspective from the older folks... I have dealt with EIA for a long time. Used albuterol when needed...some days I didn't need it, but the weather was just right or possibly low allergens. However, now I am doing Advair twice a day to keep the lungs working well, and still taking the albuterol before running... I am leery about letting EIA get started because it is usually days before it really subsides..even if you don't really notice, there is still some tightness (inflammation) in the lungs. There is some research out there that if you go out and trigger an asthma start, when it subsides a little, you can then run again because the body won't respond again for awhile. I haven't had the luxury of time to try this theory out. the only thing EIA may cause is slower times and tiredness because you have to work that much harder to breath...and may be shorting your muscles on oxygen because you are struggling to breath. If you have the insurance, I would suggest you go see an Asthma person that knows about allergiies too as they are often strongly linked. They will probably have you do a few weeks with a Peak Flow Meter to identify if there are any changes in your lung function which will aid in identifying triggers. Many suggestions say breathe through your nose instead of mouth to maximize warm/humidification of air as well as wearing a mask. Even x-country skiers where masks when it is cold out.