Thatisbeyond… Use air conditioning at your peril!

This week has not been my best. It has been a culmination of issues one on top of the other, and I am looking to place the blame firmly on an inanimate object that can’t object… Namely the air on unit in my tiny office!!!!

My office is about 1.5 meters wide and 4 meters long, and inside that office live three fully grown adults! And throughout this week I have discovered we have very different body temperatures. It’s an ode to the tale of Goldilocks only business based! The weather has been abnormally pleasant, which in turn has made people believe that it is necessary to have the air on unit on full blast for my full 10 hour shift! What to them was “just right” was to me “Baltic”. I have developed a cold and today resulted to wearing a jumper!!!!! (This is not a lie).

The problem is, that air con is EVIL! And here my friends is why…!

Firstly, it is really drying on your vocal folds. Singers are warned of having too much exposure to air con, because as it drys the throat. This means that there is not enough lubrication to the folds and so they can become sore and inflamed. The constant and unnecessary (in my opinion) barrage of of cold air has caused me to lose my voice and put any hopes of singing in the near future out of reach. (Which is a shame because I now have a long weekend off of work.)

Second it reaps havoc on my skin! Dry patches appearing everywhere, and moisturising has become an hourly routine rather than a daily one (ok I’m being a tad dramatic!) Occurrences of soreness around the nose and along my hair line is neither likeable or in fact pleasant!

Third, it makes me irritable! Because I am at work, wearing a uniform (and people keep telling me how “nice and cool it is in here”) when I should be wearing shorts and flip flops in the sunshine with a cider!

I am going to make a stand! Who is with me????!!!!! I say NO to AC! When did we stop being able to cope with a small surge in temperature? Right now I am picturing chucking the AC unit on a bonfire (oh the Irony!)

But if you think that I have gone a bit loony,and you may well be right, then here are a few suggestions on how to combat the negative affects of ones AC unit.

1) Use a good moisturiser, one with SPF – Henri Lloyd’s range is excellent.
2) Avoid using too much product on your hair as this will further dry it out. Find a product that you only need to use a little of, or go naked! (Of product)
3) keep lubricated! A couple of litres of water a day will help your skin and your vocal folds.
4) Get outside and enjoy some Vitamin D while you can, it will make you feel happier.

So, if like me you would probably lose your job for destroying the AC unit, just follow these handy tips to look after yourself… And if all else fails, stick a note on it saying it’s been broken and a repairman will be coming to fix it soon!!

TIB