Last night I showered and immediately after left my room to go study in the library. It was extremely cold outside as I made my 10 minute walk to the library; and my wet hair made the outside temperature feel even colder than it truly was. At this moment I thought, can going outside with wet hair in cold temperatures cause me to get a cold? Before researching, I assumed that my wet hair can cause me to get a cold. I hypothesized this because every time I go out in the cold for extended periods of time, even without wet hair, I come back with a slight runny nose.
Several studies I found have been conducted where scientists put cold viruses in the noses of two different groups of individuals. The experimental group was exposed to cold and wet settings while the control group continued being exposed with regular temperatures. After a few days no changes occurred between the two separate groups. Even though this along with many other studies continued to say that going out with wet hair cannot cause a cold, I was still confused why I got back to my dorm last night with a runny nose.
Symptoms and duration of the common cold
The reason for the runny nose is the fact that noses warm and create wetness as “the air we breathe travels down into the lungs.” Breathing in the cold winter air causes the moisture in the nose to increase fluid production, and the excess fluid that is produced is what comes out of our noses being the reason for the runny nose; this is not due to a cold forming.
Which symptoms are more common with a cold
Dr. Pritish Tosh from the Mayo Clinic, explains that the only way to get a cold “infection is that you need to be exposed to an infectious agent.” This explains that just by going outside into cold temperatures does not cause a cold. Since colds are caused by virus spreading not by being in cold temperatures, I am becoming more convinced that my hypothesis that their is no link between going outside with wet hair and getting a cold. Causation does not equal correlation in this case. The next time your mother, grandmother, or another adult figure trying to be wise tells you to not go outside after you shower just tell them that I can only get a cold through an infectious agent and see how they react to your statement.
Finally! I felt such a big relief after reading this post. My whole life I meet people who are persuaded that sleeping or going outside with wet hair leads to the cold. I never believed in this and it makes me feel better to know that it is scientifically proved that wet hair does not cause cold. Thank you!!!
My mom always made me wait for my hair to dry before going out in the winter and its funny to think that this phenomenon is wrong and most parents assumed it to be true. But what if the cold hair doesn’t cause that instant runny nose but does somehow make your body more vulnerable to getting a cold. Is there a correlation there? Also how sufficient were your sources to support it to actually change people’s minds about wet hair. Theres a lot that can be added to this but this post was a great basis which goes against the big worry of wet hair being correlated to catching a cold.
As a swimmer, my mom has told me repeatedly that I should wear a hat so that my wet hair isn’t exposed to the cold temperatures. It never occurred to me that the weather doesn’t necessarily cause a cold, and it now makes sense that a sickness must come from an infection or bacteria of some sort. In addition to there being no correlation between wet hair and a runny nose, your hypothesis is also a false positive because you believed that something was going on, but there was nothing. Very informative article!