How to Not Get Sick: Cold and Flu
The cooler months are approaching, ahh. Cozy season is here! While soup and flannel are the ultimate Fall day, we also know that cold and flu are brewing. No one likes to get sick, so let’s talk about how to not get sick! Of course, we can’t 100% prevent any sickness or infection, but we can reduce the risk! Let’s go.
1. Hand-Washing
Wash your hands all the time! The #1 way to prevent any infection is Hand Washing. This is engrained in us in nursing school and nursing practice. Bad germs get into our bodies from our hands to our face and mouth. The less germs on your hands the less likely you’ll get sick. Wash your hands after any outing when you get home, before you eat, after touching many surfaces, touching others, and well, touching mostly anything especially around a lot of people. Use soap and cover all the parts of your hands and fingers for 20 seconds.
2. Hand Sanitizer
Do you have a hand sanitizer in your purse or in your car? If not, get one! Are you about to eat out at a restaurant? Touching the table, chairs, door handles, and especially the menu are covered with germs from so many people! High contact objects are definitely where the yucky germs are waiting to infect you. Use hand sanitizer after you touch anything like this or after kids get into the car after school. Other high contact objects are elevator buttons, bathroom stall locks, door knobs, public spaces, and any other shared objects and touch points.
3. Don’t Touch Your Face
We touch our faces more than we realize, and I am super guilty of this! If you’re not in a spot to keep your hands clean, the next step is to keep them away from your face. This will reduce the transfer of germs into your body. Try to think about that a little more as you go about your day, and definitely try not to put your fingers in your mouth.
4. Stay Home If You Are Sick
Avoid going around other people if you are sick, if at all possible. This is considerate and limits the spread of sickness. Of course, sometimes that’s not possible. And in those cases, cover your cough and sneeze with your elbow, clean surfaces that you touch, and consider wearing a mask.
5. Stay Away From Sick People
If you are out in public or in an environment with other people and you see someone sick, try to stay away from them. 6 feet away is a distance to try to keep. This isn’t always feasible, for example, if you sit beside someone sick on an airplane. That would be a prime opportunity to wear a mask. If you have to be close to a sick person in any other similar situations, use disinfectant on surfaces and always wash your hands. The first thing I did after a full day of nursing work was to take a shower and change out of those dirty scrubs from the day.
6. Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet
This is an underrated but absolutely essential part of not getting sick. Keep your immune system strong and healthy by eating well! Eating a healthy balanced diet is actually simple and not complex. Focus most of your meals on fresh fruit and vegetables, moderate fat, protein, and carb intake, and cook your meals at home! Minimize sugar and don’t eat processed foods. Also, stay hydrated!
7. Get a Flu Shot
The young and old especially (children and elderly) should get a flu shot every year. We call these vulnerable populations because they have weaker immune systems and often suffer more when they get sick with the flu. Anyone vaccinated also decreases the spread of the infection as well, leading to fewer cases, which is why you will see healthcare workers getting the flu vaccine. They are decreasing the spread.
Did you do all of this and still get sick anyways? It can and will happen sometimes! Here are my top cold treatments.
