October 14th, 2008 by Jason
Getting sick by catching a cold or flu virus isn’t exactly what most people look forward to every year. What if I told you that you might be able to prevent some of those illnesses? Since there is no cure for the common cold or flu, the only effective means we have of combating them is to prevent them in the first place.
Even if you could only prevent just one of the colds that you get every year, wouldn’t it be worth it? Imagine no sneezing, coughing, sore throat, vomiting, aching or misery at all for that 1-2 week stretch. Best of all, this is possible without the use of drugs or supplements of any kind, although an annual flu vaccine is something you should consider.
There are two secrets that I have to help you avoid catching a cold or the flu, and you already know one of them if you are a regular reader on Tips4BetterHealth.com. The question is, are you doing it? I’m talking about a healthy lifestyle, of course. The first step is understanding what a healthy lifestyle is, but understanding without action won’t make you healthy.
The second secret is ridiculously simple, but incredibly effective at reducing your chances of getting sick. It also takes a great deal of practice and conscious effort to change your habits, but it is well worth it. I’m referring to washing your hands often and avoiding a nasty habit the vast majority of us have that germs love: touching your face. This single bad habit plays a major role in spreading the flu and colds.
I can’t tell you how often I cringe when I see people rubbing or touching their eyes or noses with their hands. This wouldn’t be so bad if they had just washed and then scrubbed their hands with disinfectant, but very few ever do. Everything they’ve touched since the last time they washed their hands is now in their eyes or nose, including germs. Colds and flus are contagious diseases, folks. By touching your face, especially with the bottoms of your hands, you are acting as a conduit for these diseases!
I try to never touch my face with the bottoms of my hands unless I have just washed them and haven’t touched anything else since. Otherwise, I use the back of my hand (which rarely comes in contact with anything, so stays clean longer) or my shirt (most common) or a clean towel to touch my face.
So how well does this work? Most people I know catch around 2 bugs per year – not bad. However, I only catch one every five years or so - that’s it. My last cold was in February of 2006, or just over 2 ½ years ago. I’d be very willing to wager that even that nightmare could have been prevented, but I was not practicing a healthy lifestyle at that time.
Establishing these new habits will require effort and concentration on your part to be completely successful. For such a simple sounding idea, it’s actually tough to get started, because you will screw up all the time at first. Once you settle in however, it’s smooth sailing from that point onward.
It is also worth mentioning that besides not touching your face with the palms of your hands, you should also try to avoid certain precarious situations during cold and flu season. Places like crowded elevators are definitely not good, and stairs are healthier anyway. Also, being around someone who is sick is a recipe for your own illness. If you have no choice, then keep a comfortable distance at all times (especially from their face) and avoid physical contact. Finally, if someone sneezes or coughs near you, hold your breath nonchalantly and move aside. This can easily be done without anyone knowing you’re even up to anything.
Got any of your own tips or one that you think is better? If so, please leave a comment! I know that I would like to hear about it, and I’m sure everyone else would too. Five years per cold probably sounds good to you, but I’d be even happier with just one per decade…
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