How to really keep from getting sick

Cold and flu season is here again. Every time you get even close to an area that has a pharmacy your senses are barraged with large reminder signs to remember to get your flu shot. Shelves are lined with every cold medication possible, all touting that they guarantee your symptoms will be gone within a few days. We are a nation of people that simply don’t have time to get sick and are eternally searching for the miracle method to avoid the dreaded cold and flu. So what are the best ways to keep from catching that seasonal cold?

Common sense is the name of the game. Keep your resistance up so that a cold or flu virus doesn’t have the momentum to catch you. This means lots of rest, lots of fluids, eating a well balanced diet, exercise. So, you say to yourself I do have that lifestyle and still I get a cold. One of the most under rated and easiest things that is overlooked is simply washing your hands! Many of our colds and flu are transmitted through touching a surface and then our faces. A good hand washing can eliminate this method of catching a cold.

The Center for Disease Control has indicated that washing your hands is on the top of the list for avoiding any kind of disease transmission. It’s easy and doesn’t cost much, except a moment of your time. This moment, however, may be the most valuable that you invest. The CDC has a recommendation to wash your hands in all areas: before or after you sneeze or cough, before preparing food, as you proceed through the day including changing diapers (if you have infants), throughout your workday, going to and from a store or school. Some of the stores are now offering hand sanitizing towels as you enter and exit the store, so make use of them as well.

If you use a public bathroom, be aware that even if you wash your hands, there are germs, bacteria and viruses on the doors as well as the faucet handles. Grab a paper towel to turn the handles on or off and use it to exit the bathroom as well. Many people under estimate the power of a good hand washing. Use warm water with soap. Wash the entire top and bottom of the hands, around ten to fifteen seconds. If you have children, sing a favorite short song while they wash (to make sure they do a good job).

Standard soap works as well as anti-bacterial soap, but if you don’t have soap around, use a hand sanitizer that has a base in alcohol. To keep your hands from drying out, you can also use a hand cream. There aren’t many of us that have the free time to make our own home made soaps and creams, but you can buy some of the better natural brands at your natural health store.

One of the worst places for cold and flu transmission is the workplace. You know you are in trouble when you walk in the door and in the first fifteen minutes you hear three or four people coughing and sneezing. While these fellow staffers should go home, we are in a culture that doesn’t encourage them to take time off. Ergo- the cold spreads and everyone gets sick. I have invested in hand sanitizers for the bathrooms and kitchen area at my job. A small price to pay to help keep colds at bay. I also make sure I have boxes of tissues at my desk and donate to anyone that has a cold. Portable containers hand sanitizers are another nice little gift that the person who is ill will appreciate.

The value of washing your hands and encouraging those around you to do the same will be some of the best time-investment that you can make.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.