Health Tips for Preventing the Flu and Colds

February 25, 2008 Your health Comments Off
Health Tips for Preventing the Flu and ColdsThe best way to prevent seasonal flu is to get vaccinated each year, but good health habits can help prevent any illness including colds.

Avoid close contact.
Try and limit your exposure to infected people. Sometimes people are infected and they don’t even know it because they haven’t experienced symptoms yet.

Stay home when you are sick.
If possible, try and stay home when you are sick. This will help prevent others from getting sick.

Cover your mouth and nose.
Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or use the bend in your arm when coughing or sneezing. It will help prevent those around you from catching your cold.

Keep your hands clean.
Wash your hands often with warm soapy water and avoid touching you mouth, nose and eyes. Colds can be passed through coughing, sneezing, and touching of contaminated surfaces.

Practice other good health habits.
Eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, exercising and getting enough sleep helps your immune system stay strong.

  

Health Tips for Cold and Flu Self-Care

Get enough rest.

Try to get 8-10 hours of sleep when you are not feeling well. Your body needs rest to fight the cold or flu virus and recover and repair itself.

Drink enough fluids.

Drinking 6-8 glasses of fluid (water, juice, soup) per day, especially warm liquids, will help keep you hydrated, reduce fever, and loosen congestion. Avoid alcohol as alcohol lowers the body’s ability to fight infection.

Soothe your throat.

Gargle with warm salt water (1/4-1/2 tsp. salt per 8 oz. warm water) and use hard candies, lozenges or cough drops to soothe a sore or dry throat.

Reduce congestion.

Breathe the steam from a shower and run a cool mist vaporizer to loosen or reduce nasal congestion. Salt water nose drops are also effective at breaking up and removing nasal secretions.

Relieve symptoms.

No over-the-counter medicine can cure a cold or the flu. Medicine can, however, help relieve some of your cold or flu symptoms. If you have questions, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Never take left-over or old antibiotics. Antibiotics do not kill cold or flu viruses and they do not help ease cold and flu symptoms. Never take someone else’s medicine.