Let's face it, no matter what your plans are for an epic mancation adventure with the guys - something as simple as a cold can ruin everything. Fortunately though, there are some easy things you can do to avoid a cold (or at least reduce it's duration and intensity). Here are some of my favorite tips to make sure that being sick doesn't ruin your fun!
Wash Your Hands
A regular hand washing routine is one of the best ways to avoid spreading germs - whether for cold and flu or even contaminated food or chemicals that you might have touched. This means if you use the bathroom, come back from the beach, get back from the golf course etc. WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water before doing anything else. Luckily, that's simple and easy so there's not much more we need to say about that.
Eat Healthy(er) and Get Some Sleep
Proper health habits tend to also reduce the severity of colds if you get them as well as making your immune system more resistant in the first place. I know it can be tough sometimes but it's all about making good decisions. Maybe you should have some veggies with that steak and not just got full meatatarian during your guys getaway and that combined with getting proper sleep is going to ensure that your body is strong enough to fight whatever's attacking it.
Zicam® Cold Remedy Medicated Fruit Drops
Zicam® Cold Remedy Medicated Fruit Drops can be taken at the first sign of a cold and are clinically proven to shorten the length of a cold when taken at the first sign. It's part of the larger Zicam family and is a homeopathic cold remedy, with each bottle you get 25 fruit drops in a mix of three different flavors.
Get Some Sunlight
Sunlight helps your body be more healthy and fight illnesses. If you think you might have a cold, spend some time outside doing something fun. The sunlight will work wonders to energize infection fighting T cells as well as supporting your Vitamin D production ... both will help increase your immunity to colds and flu.
Carry Antibacterial Hand Cleaner
I carry my "antibac" with me everywhere I go. It's not that everywhere has germs but you never know. Think about how many people touch your seat in the airplane, the door of your taxi, the counter top at a restaurant etc. Not only does using antibacterial hand cleaner help YOU avoid germs ... but it helps reduce the spread of germs that you might have too.
Know the Signs of a Cold vs Allergies vs the Flu ...
If you don't feel well, please don't travel. Trust me - other's don't want to catch what you have but not everything is contagious. Unfortunately, it's not easy to tell the difference between a cold, allergies, or the flu, but remedies like Zicam® Cold Remedy Medicated Fruit Drops are only designed to adress cold symptoms and reduce the duration of a cold.
How to Know if You Have the Flu
Colds and the flu have similar symptoms and ways of being spread. However, flu symptoms are much more sever and generally also include muscle aches and soreness as well as potentially intestinal issues. Additionally, fever is often a sign of having the flu and so if you have a temperature about 101 degrees F then that's a pretty sure sign it isn't a cold or allergies.
How to Know if You Have Allergies
Sometimes cold symptoms can be mistaken for allergies caused by an overactive immune system. Your body responds to the allergens by releasing chemicals including histamines that cause nasal passages to swell - causing runny nose, coughing, and sneezing. Luckily, this isn't contageous but people in a similar area may suffer from the same allergies.
How to Know if You Have a Cold
Since colds, flu, and allergies all have similar effects, determining if you have a cold or not is typically a case of eliminating symptoms. If you have a high fever, muscle aches, earache, trouble swallowing, or excessive mucus for more than a week - or any other ailments you are concerned about, make sure to call a doctor.
Unfortunately, people with colds tend to be contageous about a day before the worst symptoms hit and continue to be for up to a week. Cold's are caused by coming in contact with droplets or objects that are infected with a cold virus. Typically the viruses spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes ... expelling the cold virus from the host's body. The virus can live on objects such as door handles, silverwear, shopping carts, TV remotes etc. for days later and symptoms begin 2-3 days after contact. Cold symptoms include: runny nose, sore throat (generally caused by nasal drainage down your throat), and occasionally a fever in children but rarely in adults. If you don't get rest and adress symptoms though, a cold can develop into a bacterial infection.
However, you can reduce the length of a cold by taking some Zicam® Cold Remedy Medicated Fruit Drops and help shorten the cold you might be having. When it goes away, your buddies will be happy.
