Avoiding Fall Colds
The weather gets a little cooler, your schedule gets a little busier and the next thing you know, you wake up with the sniffles and a sore throat – your first cold of the season. If you’d rather spend your time walking through crunchy leaves, eating apples or watching the return of your favorite TV show than blowing your nose and rubbing your eyes, the following tips can help you avoid a pesky fall cold: –Wash your hands regularly. You’ve heard this before and for good reason – washing your hands under warm, soapy water, making sure you scrub the front and back and spaces in between your fingers, is a very effective way of washing cold germs down the drain. Sing “happy birthday” to yourself (slowly) while doing so. –Avoid touching your face. This sounds easier than it actually is, since we unconsciously bring our hands to our faces often. Do your best to avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose, particularly if you have been around someone with a cold.
–Sleep more, stress less. When you’re rundown, it’s easy to quickly succumb to a cold, and when life gets busy, it’s easy to fall into a bad habit of staying up too late or taking on too much. Give your body the rest it needs and try to avoid toxic stress that takes a toll on the immune system. When you take care of yourself, your body will be better armed to fight off any potential viruses. –Clean up. Disinfect not only your counters and surfaces at home, but your cell phone, tablet, keyboard, kids’ items and anything else that can collect germs. And, of course, exercise, eat well, and avoid smoking or smokers as well as others with colds. The common cold is the most common illness around, resulting in up to 22 million school days lost each year and many, many work days as well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Take care of yourself this fall so you can avoid the very common cold.
