"Hard to breathe": Edmontonians are sharing cold weather tips with newcomers
For those of us who are all too familiar with the feeling of the air in sub-zero temperatures, we’ve all been in that situation where the cold literally hurts our face and lungs.
But for those who aren’t used to it, it can be a pretty concerning feeling. A university student from Vietnam, where the weather is far more tolerable, shared some of these concerns in an online thread.
The poster wrote that they were in Edmonton for their winter semester and were experiencing trouble adjusting to the bitterly cold and dry temperatures.
“The cold makes it hard to breathe,” the title of their post read.
“Today was my first day, and I had to run because I was almost late for my bus; I find that it’s hard to breathe through my mouth,” the post continued.
“I was wondering if this is normal for people who recently moved here? If not then I’m f*cked with the shortness of breath.”
new to Canada and the cold makes it hard to breathe.
byu/matchalatteice inEdmonton
Hundreds jumped into the comments to share their tips and tricks for coping with the weather and to also express their discomfort with the bitterly cold air.
“When it’s around -10C to -20C, that feeling never really goes away,” one user wrote.
“You need to be mindful to breathe through your nose more as the cold air has more space to warm up between your nose and lungs than it does your mouth and lungs. Breathing through a scarf or a ski mask can also be helpful.”
“Hang in there, you will adjust. Try to observe what others are wearing to help keep warm,” another poster wrote.
“Be mindful of frostbite on the coldest of days. It can set in quickly. But you can also comfortably exercise in cold weather with the appropriate clothing, so it’s not something you can’t adjust to.”
Another suggested, “Get a scarf or something that loosely covers your face and breathe through your nose as much as possible. It will be easier to breathe deeply in the cold air that way.”
Luckily for the poster, Edmonton is seeing a major warm-up after last week’s bitterly cold weather, with daily highs sitting above zero for the remainder of this week.
ECCC
What are some tips and tricks you use to stay warm in Edmonton? Let us know in the comments.