Basic Steps To Common Cold Prevention
Why should you practice common cold prevention? Here's why.
The common cold strikes children 3-8 times a year, and hits adults about 2-4 times per annum. Known for putting people out of commission for an average of seven days, this virus is also capable of lasting a full two weeks. It's symptoms, which can manifest within hours of infection, can last for the entire duration of the cold. These tell-tale signs include a scratchy throat, a runny nose, and a slew of coughs and sneezes among many others, ensuring the time you spend in bed will be accompanied by a general feeling of unpleasantness and frustration.
That, in a nutshell, is why it's a must to practice common cold prevention. And that's not even taking into account the bug's effect on your social and professional life. If only because of these reasons, you should be asking “how is the common cold prevented” instead of wondering why we should even bother trying to prevent it.
Problem is, even if we are prepared to make a sincere effort at preventing the virus from infecting our loved ones and ourselves, there are far too many misconceptions about dealing with the common cold that, quite honestly, most of us don't even know how to start. Then again, that's what these articles are for – to provide that information.
So how is the common cold prevented? Below are a few of the most basic, yet most effective, steps to common cold prevention.
Wash your hands.
Both common sense and proper hygiene tell you that washing your hands keeps germs away, but you may not know that it's the act of washing, and not the washing itself, that serves to remove the cold virus that has somehow found its way onto your palms.
Interesting as it is, though, that piece of trivia doesn't change the fact that you must wash frequently to stay virus-free, especially when you're around people who suffer from or people who have recently suffered from the common cold.
Why is that? It's not because these sufferers have coughed or sneezed all over the place, if that's what you're worried about. The common cold is not easily passed through the air you breathe, so there isn't much cause for alarm when someone beside you sneezes (unless the sneeze was aimed directly at your face). No, hand contact is a much more effective way of passing on the virus.
Despite that, the possibility of having someone with a cold touch you isn't what you should be worried about either, since that's easily avoided. Rather, what you have to worry about is what else that person has touched – the chair, the doorknob, the toilet seat, that book you've been reading for the past hour – because it's likely that those objects are laden with germs that are just waiting to pounce.
By touching them and bringing your hands up to scratch your nose or rub your eyes, you're already leaving yourself open to infection. But since it's nigh impossible to avoid everything the infected has touched, the most logical solution would be to employ some frequent hand washes. It'd be a good idea to keep your hands off your face, too.
Tissues, handkerchiefs, hand sanitizers, disinfectant, etc.
Another good idea is to make use of all of the above. Like earlier stated, you really can't tell how much of your stuff has been exposed to the virus, so using these tools should aid a great deal in common cold prevention. More simple tips and useful info in Part Two. Read on.