The doctor told about the consequences of walking without a hat in freezing temperatures

Not only children do not like to wear hats, even if their grandmothers threaten them with a finger and scare them with meningitis, but also adults sometimes forget about this headgear. What is actually dangerous to walk in the cold without a hat, told "Izvestia" medical expert of Laboratory "Hemotest" Alexandra Fileva December 10.

According to her, walking in the winter, in the cold, with a bare head can really be harmful to health: so not long to catch a cold, respiratory and infectious diseases that can go into complications or provoke exacerbation of chronic diseases. All this happens because hypothermia of the head leads to hypothermia of the whole body.

"The fact is that the head, unlike the rest of the body, is not protected from the cold: between the skull bone and the skin is a very thin fat layer. You can wrap yourself in several layers, put on mittens and warm socks, but if the head is exposed, most of the heat will still leave the body. Much less heat is lost if you have a warm hat on your head and no mittens on your hands, for example. In addition, it is through the head - more precisely, through the nasopharynx - cold air enters the body when breathing" - said the doctor.

If the head is warm, it quickly warms up, but walking without a hat can slow down this process, because of which the cold will longer affect the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. That, in turn, can lead to a decrease in local immunity, and then to runny nose and sore throat, Filyova explained.

The expert noted that people with strong immunity, who harden themselves and in general are not afraid of low temperatures, hypothermia of the head may not notice. But if the immune system is already weakened, and a person has a tendency to respiratory diseases, then even a five-minute walk in the cold without a hat can end up with a sick leave.

"Headgear also protects the blood vessels, of which there are many on the head, from hypothermia. When a person comes out of the heat into the street, the vessels narrow, and then, when a person goes back into the heat, they dilate. Because of this, the blood flow is weakened or intensified. This can result in dizziness or headache. The same processes occur in the ears and are aggravated by the cold wind. Staying in the cold with a bare head can lead to inflammation of the inner ear, otitis media and other unpleasant diseases," said the doctor.

At the same time, she emphasized that lush hair is not a substitute for a hat: it does not keep warm and does not protect from the wind at all. Moreover, frost can affect the condition of hair. The temperature difference causes vasospasm, which can disrupt the nutrition of hair follicles. This leads to weakening of hair, they can fade, begin to split and actively fall out, concluded Filyova.

Earlier, on October 23, pediatrician Maryam Sayfulina told "Izvestia" about the causes of pneumonia. According to the specialist, pneumonia often occurs after other diseases, such as acute respiratory viral infections, which lead to a decrease in immunity.