I heard someone say on a very warm evening that they were going to have a fan on them when they went to sleep. Another person present quickly told them not to do that, that it could cause sickness of some serious kind.
Is there any truth behind this?
There is a grain of truth to this that may have given birth to the urban legend. I, and other people I know, have fallen asleep with a cold breeze coming through an open window that blew against only one side of the face. The next morning, that side of the face was sore and a little numb, and that soreness lasted well into the morning.
I can only offer anecdotal evidence. I often sleep with a fan blowing air towards me from a distance of maybe 4 ft. I invariably get a better night’s sleep, though I do end up a bit more dehydrated in the morning.
FWIW, the fan isn’t running full-speed.
I don’t like to have a fan blowing on my face when I sleep because it speeds dehydration and makes my skin sensitive. I tend to have it blowing across the middle of the bed to keep the air around the bed circulating without bothering my face at all.
I suppose the dehydration thing could make you more susceptible to disease, but I can’t see fans actually causing the disease.
My mother is convinced that fans cause Bell’s palsy (a type of facial nerve paralysis), and I have always thought she was out to lunch.
In this article, http://www.utmb.edu/otoref/Grnds/face961.htm patients who have Bell’s palsy are advised to avoid fans. It is my very non-medical professional understanding that Bell’s is not caused by fans, but rather can be triggered by a strong, constant breeze from a fan if the condition is already present. I believe that the exact cause of Bell’s is unknown, but that researchers think it is most likely a viral agent.
More on my mother – she claims that in her youth, the urban legend was that having fans in a room with sleeping children would increase their risk of contracting polio. I don’t know why she thinks polio and Bell’s palsy are in some way related, but in her mind, this justifies her fear of fans. Was the person you spoke with from the polio generation? Or perhaps they also have a nutty mother…
From my experience a fan definately contributes to catching colds. I think it makes sense. The more air that flies by your nose and mouth, the greater the number of aireborne pollutants/microbes that pass by your face and therefore the greater chance of infection.
Many “old-school” greeks believe the fan thing, also.
I think it’s hogwash. Have you ever slept on an unheated waterbed? Not only is it very difficult, but the next morning, your entire body is sore. My WAG is that the cool air from the fan does a similar thing, causing some to think that sore=sick.
Due to some nasal problems I have I am a bit of a mouth breather. If I sleep under a fan I will end up with a sore throat almost 100% of the time. This has nothing to do with anyone else who breathes normally but I absolutely go NUTS if my wife gets up and turns the fan on during the night.
I have a ceiling fan and leave it on HIGH many nights without ill effects. But then I have so many aches and pains that I probably wouldn’t notice one more anyway.