Please Don’t Sneeze On Me

Cold and flu season is coming! Instead of baracading yourself inside your house, take a look at this blog. I felt it appropriate to write about some prevention tips since I could see my breath outside this morning. It was also a staggering 34 degrees when I left the house. Hot damn! Winter’s a’comin!
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First things first. Prevention can always start with self-care. Nobody else is going to help you avoid a cold.
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1. Drink plenty of fluids – it’s important to keep your body hydrated and be sure it’s receiving the proper nutrients and vitamins. Without em, our immune systems wouldn’t be strong enough to fight off any type of infection.
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2. Increase rest and sleep. This one almost seems impossible these days eh? Make an effort at least. Once again this plays a big role in the proper functioning of our immune systems.
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3. Wash hands often. This is just common sense. Whether it’s cold season or the middle of July. Just wash your hands. You’d be surprised how much bacteria you contract from every day activities.
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4. Keep stress under control. Ha! This goes along with increasing rest and sleep. The more we stress, the more our body stresses. Stress causes us to become run down and ragged, thus weakening our immune system. Imagine a rubberband. Pull on it and let it go. It will snap back to it’s original self. Well now pull on it for a long period of time a few times a day. Over time you’ll see the elasticity of the band wears and is no longer able to snap back to it’s typical self. (Bad example eh? Deal with it!)
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5. Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. Try it for a day. When you focus on not doing it, you’ll realize just how often you actually touch these parts. These are the main “open doors” for germs. Wanna keep them out? Don’t ring their bell!
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Not sure if you have a cold or the flu? Here are a few symptoms that should help you distinguish between the two.
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COLD
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- Fevers are rare
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- Headaches are rare
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- Slight aches, pains
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- Possible feeling of fatigue
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- Stuffy noses are common
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- Sneezing is common
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- Sore throats are common
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- Chest discomfort is mild to moderate
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FLU
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- Fevers are usually high (102-104)
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- Headaches are common
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- Aches, pains are usually common, often severe
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- Fatigue can last up to 3 weeks (yikes!)
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- Usually will experience extreme exhaustion at beginning of illness
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- Stuffy noses – sometimes
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- Sore throats – sometimes
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- Chest discomfort is common, can become severe
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Seek medical advice if:
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- You have difficulty breathing
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- You feel faint
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- Your sore throat is severe
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- You have a cough that produces a ot of phlegm (especialy if colored green or yellow – EW)
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- Your fever is 102 or higher with a cold or 104 or higher with the flu
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- You have a fever with shaking chills
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- You have a sharp chest pain when you breathe deeply or cough
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Find yourself having one of the above?
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Be sure to rest, drink fluids, gargle with salt water if a sore throat is present. Use chicken soup to break up congestion, and avoid tobacco and alcohol.
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