Keeping a trusty fan blowing on you throughout the night seems like it would be the best middle ground for staying cool on humid evenings <\/a>\u2014\u00a0but they can also bring on some annoying side effects.<\/p>\n Doctors have now revealed the ways that the constant breeze of a fan can affect your health and shared their top tips for reducing any potentially undesirable impacts.<\/p>\n 1. Allergies or asthma<\/p>\n Turning a fan on throughout the night can stir up allergens in the room like dust, pollen and pet dander, which can trigger allergies, hay fever or worsen asthma symptoms.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your airway is already reactive and sensitive, the combination of circulating allergens and dryness can make symptoms like coughing, wheezing, or congestion worse,\u201d says Dr. William Lu, the medical director at digital sleep clinic Dreem Health, according to Tom\u2019s Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fan blades themselves also often have dust collected onto them, which only adds to the particles circulating around the room.<\/p>\n 2. Stiff muscles<\/p>\n When cool air is concentrated on one part of your body for a prolonged period of time, it can cause muscles to tense up or cramp due to super localized blood flow. <\/p>\n Because of this, in addition to the fact that your body often stays still for hours at a time during sleep, you can wake up feeling sore, according to a Healthline <\/a>article reviewed by certified physician Raj Dasgupta. It\u2019s especially common to have a stiff neck. <\/p>\n 3. Congestion <\/p>\n Constant airflow can dry out your nose, mouth and throat, prompting your body to produce more mucus in an attempt to combat the dryness. Overproduction of mucus can cause congestion, bringing on symptoms like a sore throat, stuffy nose, coughing and a sinus headache. <\/p>\n Dr. Julius Goh, an ENT specialist, wrote on The ENT Doctor blog<\/a>: \u201cThe mucociliary clearance system (the microscopic hair-like cilia that sweep mucus and allergens out of your nasal passages) needs moisture to function. Dry it out and you\u2019re essentially paralyzing your own nasal immune defense. Allergens sit longer. Symptoms worsen. You wake up sneezing before you\u2019ve even had breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Dry skin<\/p>\n![\"Keeping](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/iStock-2167520887.jpeg\")
Keeping a fan fixated on your face throughout the night is not best practice \u2014\u00a0instead, consider oscillating it (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n
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There are precautions you can take to lower the chances of waking up with a sore neck or dry skin (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n