After a major harmattan hit especially in the West of Nigeria on boxing day, the fierceness of the harmattan seemed to be dousing. But again this weekend, harmattan has shown up stronger and the cold is just “too much”. It’s the kind of cold that can make up stay in bed till 10am whether PHCN shows up or not and it’s also the kind that can cause to fall sick and have running nose.
I’d share with you some health tips to ensure you survive this harmattan period without any of those ailments. I hope you find them useful.
- Wear thick enough clothing. Ensure you are well covered especially your chest region to avoid catching a cold.
- Protect your skin! It’s during this season you see a lot of people go about with faces so white and cracked lips. Get a skin-friendly Vaseline or body lotion with enough oil content to keep your skin moisturised all day long. Also, get lip balm or gloss to protect your lips from excessive dryness and cracks.
- Shut your window more. Harmattan is characterised with haze and plenty of dust. Avoid leaving your windows and doors open for too long. Also clean the house regularly…. To get rid of dust particles that may have settled on the surfaces.
- Take enough vitamins. Even without harmattan season, vitamins help boost our immune system. So whether in tablets, fruits or veggies, ensure your vitamin game is strong this season…
- Go slow with the cold drinks, especially early in the morning. The reason is quite obvious; the whether is mostly cold, consuming too much of cold drinks can trigger a flu. So if you are like me who isn’t a fan of hot drinks like tea – you might have to break the norm and take more warm drinks especially in the mornings.
- Consume more water: Harmattan is cold but also can be very dry. This goes ahead to mean that your body would consume more water and you’d get dehydrated more quickly…. So you’d do your body a lot of good by taking lots of water this season…
Enjoy! I wish you an ailment-free harmattan!