A month under our belts, and the Lehigh Plague has already reared its ugly little head. I hear the sniffling in classes, slight coughing in the bathrooms, and full on sneezing when I walk through campus. As the stress of essays, papers, and 4 o’clock eat away at us, with the addition of fluctuating weather, more and more people are bound to get sick. Here are 7 (one for each day of the week) best ways to combat sickness:
Wash your hands
Almost 80% of infections are transmitted via sneezing, touching, or coughing. When the germs get onto your hands, the sickness starts – you touch your eyes, your mouth, and your face every morning when you wake up. The best way to truly get rid of those pesky germs is to wash your hands for about 15 seconds, the same amount of time it takes to sing happy birthday (in your head of course).
Stay hydrated
Fluids are a major key, especially water! As it gets colder, the air becomes drier and it seems as though there isn’t any moisture around. Keeping hydrated decreases the symptoms of a sore throat or stuffy nose.
Work out
Exercise is important in fighting off infections; increasing your heart rate and getting your blood pumping helps to increase the white blood cell count that attacks viruses. Just one hour of exercise, in any form that fits in your schedule throughout the day, can really assist in preventing sicknesses.
Eat
A balanced diet, in conjunction with super foods and other foods like yogurt, mushrooms, and beef, can boost the immune system.
Relax
Try to squeeze in a few moments of rest, whether it be watching your favorite show on Netflix, painting your nails that new color you bought, or just hanging out with friends, take the time to relieve your stress.
Clean
Keeping up with good hygiene helps to keep sicknesses at bay, though normal grooming shouldn’t be where you stop. Make sure your surroundings and personal items are germ-free by washing them or spraying with a disinfectant to prevent spreading communicable diseases.
Sleep
During sleep, the body rehabilitates itself from daytime injury. We should be getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night, but we all know that can be really hard. It seems as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to do schoolwork, eat, socialize, let alone trying to fit that much sleep into the equation. Even with everything, it’s still best to try to get those 7-9 hours to repair your body and fight off infections.