It’s that time of year. Students are heading back to school, colder months are just ahead, and everyone—kids, parents and those without children—will soon be spending more time indoors. While it all may seem a little cozier, everything’s likely going to get a little hectic with cold and flu season right around the corner.
No doubt, in close quarters, the likelihood of spreading and catching germs between October and March goes up. With kids back at school, there is also a greater risk of them bringing home germs and spreading them to you, family members, friends, and neighbors.
Is There Anything You Can Do?
To maintain wellness amidst cold and flu season, be proactive! Here are 10 tips to help prevent catching and spreading the common cold and flu, plus some proven, natural solutions to support the immune system in general.
Prevent Catching—and Spreading—the Common Cold or Flu:
- Practice good hygiene. Use plain old soap and hot water and wash your hands frequently. In particular, wash before and after touching shared objects: door knobs, pens, shopping carts, water fountains, kitchen utensils, remote controls, and other household electronics. Also, trim your fingernails to give germs one less place to hang out, survive, and thrive.
- Avoid touching your hands to your face. Keep them clear of your eyes, mouth, and nose, or those gateways where germs quickly enter and tend to hang out.
- Minimize exposure to crowds. Shopping malls, grocery stores, airports, and even some restaurants are commonly crawling with germs. Try to limit your time in such places. Better yet, get loads of fresh air to cleanse your system naturally. Make sure to get the kids outside, too!
- Use your own cup. Do you often finish off your kids’ food in an effort not to waste a single sip or scrap? If yes, think twice before sharing cups, plates, utensils, etc., with them—or anyone else for that matter!
- Try a neti pot and saline gargle. Rinse nasal debris and mucus that might be harboring fresh germs with either or both of these natural, proactive solutions. Particularly if you’ve been exposed to someone with the common cold or flu, this can be an effective line of defense. They’re also soothing, natural remedies that can relieve cold/flu symptoms.
- Stay home when sick. While you may be contagious before you even know you’re sick, germs are often spread through respiratory droplets transmitted from coughing and sneezing. When you go out in public, you’re choosing to spread your germs whether you realize it or not. To be fair to others, rest at home until well.
- Sneeze into your elbow. Shift how you catch your sneeze from your hand to your elbow, and you’ll trap the germs in a place that doesn’t enable transmission to others.
- Stock the kitchen with immune boosters. Onions, garlic, chicken broth, shitake mushrooms, carrots, celery, black pepper corns, turmeric root, lemons, and honey—all these ingredients will come in handy if you get sick. For example, when a sore throat or loss of appetite strikes (both of which are natural immune-stimulated responses), tea and broth are small comforts that can have a big impact. They provide vital hydration and nutrition that support the immune system on multiple fronts. Not sure how to make a savory, health-based broth? Stay tuned—over the winter months, we’ll be giving you easy recipes in an upcoming blog.
- Empower your immune system the right way. Throughout cold and flu season, your body will need extra rest and water—both are essential. But you may also benefit from a whole host of botanicals, vitamins, and homeopathic medicines that can support and/or restore wellness. If you use natural remedies, time them right and use the correct dosages. For example, Echinacea Purpurea is commonly used for colds. But did you know it’s most effective when used at the start of illness? Or as a prevention measure if you’ve been exposed to someone who is sick? The longer you have the cold and flu, the less effective this herb tends to be. Also, as with other herbs, how you take it matters. A two-week-on, one-week-off approach provides better benefit than continuously taking the herb. Then remember: Just because Echinacea may be natural, it’s not necessarily safe for everyone. People with autoimmune conditions or compromised immune systems should use this herb with caution. At Mountain Sage Medicine, we can help you minimize errors, oversights, or confusion relating to the best natural medicines for you to use, as well as timing and dosage.
- Rethink how you tame symptoms. Fever, like other cold and flu symptoms, plays an important role fighting in the common cold and flu. When the body reacts in this way, the goal is to support the immune system without suppressing the symptoms. For example, suppressing symptoms with medications like fever reducers and decongestants may give short-term relief but can overextend an illness. The right natural therapies can often provide cold and flu relief, resolving symptoms more quickly and without harming the body.