Moon
09-16-2011, 08:48 PM
It was a real forehead-smacker for me when a friend told me she'd caught the flu, because i could have
told her how to prevent it. Well, better late than never--at least someone who reads this will get through
the winter in good health. If you're around anyone who's sick, especially when they're first coming down
with something contagious, use a nasal rinse each day. If you work with children or with a lot of people
every day, just go ahead and do the nasal rinse all fall and winter, as an ounce of prevention. The viruses
that cause colds and flu take 48 hours from contact to proliferate to such numbers that they can colonize
the body. So if you rinse the whole virus population away about every 24 hours, they never get a chance
to become so numerous they can cause illness. There's no need to buy a whole packet of pre-mixed
nasal rinse every day; just mix salt into warm water, and judge by the feel of your nasal passages whether
you need to adjust the amount of salt. Throw out the squeeze bottle and nasal insert at the end of the season,
though, and buy new ones next year; the plastic is absorbent enough to hold germs that would proliferate
while the bottle is out of use for most of the year. Also good for rinsing out allergens before they can have
much effect.
told her how to prevent it. Well, better late than never--at least someone who reads this will get through
the winter in good health. If you're around anyone who's sick, especially when they're first coming down
with something contagious, use a nasal rinse each day. If you work with children or with a lot of people
every day, just go ahead and do the nasal rinse all fall and winter, as an ounce of prevention. The viruses
that cause colds and flu take 48 hours from contact to proliferate to such numbers that they can colonize
the body. So if you rinse the whole virus population away about every 24 hours, they never get a chance
to become so numerous they can cause illness. There's no need to buy a whole packet of pre-mixed
nasal rinse every day; just mix salt into warm water, and judge by the feel of your nasal passages whether
you need to adjust the amount of salt. Throw out the squeeze bottle and nasal insert at the end of the season,
though, and buy new ones next year; the plastic is absorbent enough to hold germs that would proliferate
while the bottle is out of use for most of the year. Also good for rinsing out allergens before they can have
much effect.