Preventive care is the best way to go and being around someone who coughs or sneezes is a good way to catch a cold or virus. 

Other ways to get sick include shaking hands with others or touching contaminated surfaces.

During cold and flu season and beyond, the key is prevention.

Here are 14 preventive measures that may help keep you well:

1. Take supplements as they strengthen the immune system.
2. Exercise daily.
3. Get enough rest.
4. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated.
5. Avoid drinking alcohol as it can bring down your resistance.
6. Keep your hands washed (See directions below).
7. Don’t hang out in crowded places.
8. Use a knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons.
9. Don’t touch your face.
10. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.
11. Don’t shake hands, try a fist bump, elbow bump, or bow instead.
12. Open doors with your closed fist or hip, don’t grasp the handle with your hand, unless you need to.
13. Use disinfectant wipes on shopping cart handles and child seats.
14. If soap is not available, use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer at home, car, and in your purse, and when you are out and about.

Wash Your Hands!

Speaking of washing your hands, do you know the proper way to wash them at home and away? Follow these steps:

🧼 Before washing hands, ensure that your paper towel is ready in advance
🧽 Wash front and back of hands, thumbs, fingertips and crevices for 40 seconds
🧼 Rinse
🧽 Dry hands and turn off faucet with the paper towel
🧼 Use that paper towel to open and possibly close the door
🧽 Toss into nearest garbage can.

Of course, no matter how much we try to avoid a cold or the flu, sometimes there’s no escaping! Blah!

Difference Between Cold and Flu!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, “The symptoms of flu can include fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue (tiredness).

Cold symptoms are usually milder than the symptoms of flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose.

Colds generally do not result in serious health problems“.

Here are a few things you can do to treat a cold:

🧽 Drink water, juice, or clear broth to stay hydrated. Stay away from alcohol and caffeinated beverages as they can dehydrate.
🧼 Rest, rest, rest!
🧽 Gargle with saltwater many times a day (I do this a lot and it works great)
🧼 Try over the counter cough and cold medications or ibuprofen. If you are not sure what you should be taking, speak to your healthcare provider.

What’s the difference between the stomach flu and Influenza?

According to WebMD, “Stomach flu actually refers to gastroenteritis or irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines (the gastrointestinal tract).

Gastroenteritis may be caused by a virus, bacteria, parasites in spoiled food or unclean water, or another trigger such as lactose intolerance, which causes a reaction to dairy products”.

“Influenza (flu), on the other hand, is a viral infection that mimics a cold except that it starts forcefully with symptoms of fatigue, fever, and respiratory congestion.

While more than 100 different virus types can cause a common cold, only influenza virus types A, B, and C cause flu. More severe cases of influenza can lead to life-threatening illnesses such as pneumonia“.

Cold, Flu or Covid?

Depending on severity, each may require a doctor visit.

Again, contact your healthcare provider and get their recommendation as to whether a visit is required.

If you don’t want to leave home, a virtual doctor is another alternative depending on the kind of care you are looking for.

Gastrointestinal issues, such as diarrhea and vomiting, really suck!!

When recovering, the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) diet is what’s usually recommended.

Eating high fiber foods is not recommended until your stomach virus is gone.

Once the virus is gone, start slowly introducing high fiber foods back into your diet.

What about Covid Symptoms?

Sometimes, due to overlapping symptoms, it’s tough to determine if you have a cold, flu or Covid.

The best thing you can do to determine if you indeed have Covid-19, is to take a test.

If you test positive, check with the CDC for current recommendations, and isolate.

Check out this video about my personal experience with covid.

You can download the GET WELL COMFORT KIT here.

TOPIC: Do Preventive Measures Keep You Well?

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