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I hate being sick. I'm miserable to be around because I turn into a big grumpy baby. So, over the last few years I've started taking extra precaution to reduce the number of times I get a cold or the flu, and so far I've been successful. I've reduced the number of times I've been sick (vs. previous years) by more than half by following these steps.
Here are the precautions I take:
1) Be a germa-phobe! Don't touch any surface in public with your bare hand(s) if you can avoid it - shopping cart handles, elevator buttons, door handles, water cooler dispenser handles, drinking fountian buttons, ANY commonly touched surface. I'm usually wearing gloves in the winter time so that's easy, but when gloves are unavailable use shirt sleves to touch these surfaces. Pay especially careful attention in the bathroom. I ALWAYS dispense the paper towel before I wash my hands (as to not touch the paper towel dispensing lever bare-handed) and then use the paper towel to turn off the water after I've dried my hands, and then use the paper towel to open the door. The reason you get sick in the first place is germs from somebody less sanitary than you transfered them to you by some medium. The less available mediums you expose yourself to, the less likely you are to get sick.
2) Wash hands often. Or use Purel hand sanitizer. I find myself doing either of these once per hour or more, and always before eating, and always after touching a surface that could be contaminated (including other people's telephones, keyboards, mice, etc)
3) Try to reduce the number of times you rub your eyes, touch your face, or chew your nails.... if you must, wash or sanitize your hands first.
4) Use Lysol. Spray it on places you regularly touch (your keyboard, doorknobs in your house/office, phones, etc)
5) Saline Nasal Spray (Ocean, Simply Saline, etc) I spray 2 sprays in each nostril every morning. It's my doctors recommendation that airborn virus' and bacteria cannot survive long enough to multiply enough to infect you if your nasal passages are flushed with saline regularly.
6) Vitamins. Not just vitamin C, but a good multi-vitamin. The stronger your immune system is, the more you can fight off before getting sick, and multi-vitamins help all aspects of health.
7) If you start to feel your throat tickle and get sore (usually the first symptom of the flu or a cold), gargle for 10 seconds with hydrogen peroxide (yes, that stuff in the brown bottle to dressing cuts that foams up when it touches blood). It's the most disgusting thing you will ever do, and it will gag you when it starts to foam, but it works. I'd ather gag myself for 10 seconds than be miserable for 2 weeks. In the last year I've had to do this a couple times and not been sick since before summer 2003.
Those are my tips on staying healthy this flu season.
Best of luck.
-Mike
[ December 28, 2004, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: MTMike ]
Here are the precautions I take:
1) Be a germa-phobe! Don't touch any surface in public with your bare hand(s) if you can avoid it - shopping cart handles, elevator buttons, door handles, water cooler dispenser handles, drinking fountian buttons, ANY commonly touched surface. I'm usually wearing gloves in the winter time so that's easy, but when gloves are unavailable use shirt sleves to touch these surfaces. Pay especially careful attention in the bathroom. I ALWAYS dispense the paper towel before I wash my hands (as to not touch the paper towel dispensing lever bare-handed) and then use the paper towel to turn off the water after I've dried my hands, and then use the paper towel to open the door. The reason you get sick in the first place is germs from somebody less sanitary than you transfered them to you by some medium. The less available mediums you expose yourself to, the less likely you are to get sick.
2) Wash hands often. Or use Purel hand sanitizer. I find myself doing either of these once per hour or more, and always before eating, and always after touching a surface that could be contaminated (including other people's telephones, keyboards, mice, etc)
3) Try to reduce the number of times you rub your eyes, touch your face, or chew your nails.... if you must, wash or sanitize your hands first.
4) Use Lysol. Spray it on places you regularly touch (your keyboard, doorknobs in your house/office, phones, etc)
5) Saline Nasal Spray (Ocean, Simply Saline, etc) I spray 2 sprays in each nostril every morning. It's my doctors recommendation that airborn virus' and bacteria cannot survive long enough to multiply enough to infect you if your nasal passages are flushed with saline regularly.
6) Vitamins. Not just vitamin C, but a good multi-vitamin. The stronger your immune system is, the more you can fight off before getting sick, and multi-vitamins help all aspects of health.
7) If you start to feel your throat tickle and get sore (usually the first symptom of the flu or a cold), gargle for 10 seconds with hydrogen peroxide (yes, that stuff in the brown bottle to dressing cuts that foams up when it touches blood). It's the most disgusting thing you will ever do, and it will gag you when it starts to foam, but it works. I'd ather gag myself for 10 seconds than be miserable for 2 weeks. In the last year I've had to do this a couple times and not been sick since before summer 2003.
Those are my tips on staying healthy this flu season.
Best of luck.
-Mike
[ December 28, 2004, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: MTMike ]
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