Handling The Common Cold Is Easier Than You Think

Handling a common cold during the winter, is for many people, painful and high stress. But, in truth, it really doesn’t have to be that way. Taking certain precautions will raise the odds that you stay cold free throughout the cold winter months.

I hear your skepticism — especially as you know that you can’t vaccinate against the common cold because it’s just a very difficult virus to keep up with. And, the worst part is, if you do catch a cold, you’ll be in bad shape for at least 7-10 days.

Here are a few suggestions that you can use to help you stay healthy through the cold winter months:

Common Cold: Wash Your Hands Often

Cold winter weather keeps us indoors a lot of the time. That can be a recipe for getting sick. If you have a sick family member at home with you, your risk for getting sick also increases.

A typical path of transmission, could be just touching a door handle that your sick family member has recently touched. If you touch that handle and then wipe your eyes or mouth with the same hand, you’re cold risk increases.

The best way to avoid this, is to wash your hands with soap and warm water as often as possible. Soap is much more effective than a hand sanitizer.

Also, keep in mind that touch is not the only vehicle for the transmissions of germs. Since colds are highly contagious, virus particles released into the air can also make you sick. Therefore keep your distance from people who cough or sneeze.

In addition, make sure that you disinfect the surfaces that are touched the most often. This means wiping down things like door handles, countertops, TV remotes, light switches, phones and keyboards.

Common Cold: The Flu shot won’t help you

It’s important that you get your flu shot every year. It really does help. But, remember, it’s for the flu, not a cold.  It protects you against influenza viruses, usually Type A and Type B.

Also, be aware that you can get several colds throughout the winter if you’re not careful. The fact is that adults get an average of two to three colds a year.

That’s in part because there are hundreds of strains of rhinoviruses — “rhino” means “nose,” which is the place common colds hit hardest.

And, as there are many different strains of cold viruses, catching one of them doesn’t make you immune to the others.