Schedule an appointment as soon as you experience any cold or flu-like symptoms to help ease your discomfort and speed the healing process.

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There are no known cures for colds and flu, so cold and flu prevention should be your goal.  Taking an active approach to warding off colds and flu is apt to make your whole life healthier.

Flu-like symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.

While you are still healthy, you can prevent infection or aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, by following some very simple steps:

#1 Wash Your Hands Well and Often

Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the door knob, telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the germs. Or rub an alcohol-based hand sanitizer onto your hands.

 Frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Hand washing requires only soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — a cleanser that doesn't require water. Find out when and how to wash your hands properly.

When to wash your hands

As you touch people, surfaces and objects throughout the day, you accumulate germs on your hands. In turn, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Although it's impossible to keep your hands germ-free, washing your hands frequently can help limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses and other microbes.

Always wash your hands before:

• Preparing food

• Eating

• Treating wounds or giving medicine

• Touching a sick or injured person

• Inserting or removing contact lenses

Always wash your hands after:

• Just getting home from work, shopping, school, etc.

• Preparing food, especially raw meat or poultry

• Using the toilet

• Changing a diaper

• Touching an animal or animal toys, leashes or waste

• Blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing into your hands

• Treating wounds

• Touching a sick or injured person

• Handling garbage or something that could be contaminated, such as a cleaning cloth or soiled shoes

Of course, it's also important to wash your hands whenever they look dirty.

How to wash your hands

It's generally best to wash your hands with soap and water. Follow these simple steps:

• Wet your hands with running water.

• Apply liquid, bar or powder soap.

• Lather well.

• Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.

• Rinse well.

• Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel or air dryer.

• If possible, use your towel to turn off the faucet.

Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.

How to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer

Hand sanitizers, which don't require water, are an excellent alternative to soap and water. If you choose to use a commercially prepared hand sanitizer, make sure the product contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Then follow these simple steps:

• Apply enough of the product to the palm of your hand to wet your hands completely.

• Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces, for up to 25 seconds or until they're dry.

Kids need clean hands, too

Help your children stay healthy by encouraging them to wash their hands properly and frequently. Wash your hands with your children to show them how it's done. To prevent rushing, suggest washing their hands for as long as it takes to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice.

Hand washing is especially important for children in child care settings. Young children cared for in groups outside the home are at greater risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, which can easily spread to family members and other contacts.

Be sure your child care provider promotes frequent hand washing or use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Ask whether the children are required to wash their hands several times a day — not just before meals.  Note also, whether diapering areas are cleaned after each use and whether eating and diapering areas are well separated.

A simple way to stay healthy

Hand washing doesn't take much time or effort, but it offers great rewards in terms of preventing illness. Adopting this simple habit can play a major role in protecting your health.

#2 Don't Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs With Your Hands

Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming on, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately and wash your hands. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into the inside of your elbow.

#3 Don't Touch Your Face

Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.

#4 Gargle

Gargle twice a day with warm salt water. A virus takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling can help prevent a virus from taking hold and multiplying. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

#5 Flush Your Sinuses

Flush your sinuses at least once every day with warm salt water.  I recommend use of a Neti pot, a sample of which (Ancient Secrets) you will see on my desk that can be obtained either at Whole Foods or on the internet.  If you cannot handle the Neti pot, blowing the nose thoroughly once a day in the shower and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is also effective in reducing the viral population.

#5 Diet

Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamins A & C including:

Vitamin A – Spirulina, Wheat/Barley grass, chlorella, Carrot, Sweet potato, Kale, Parsley, Spinach, Turnip greens, Beet greens, Green onion, Watercress, Winter squash, Collards, Romaine lettuce, Persimmon, Cantaloupe

Vitamin C – Cabbage, Bell Peppers, Broccoli, Sprouts, all fresh fruit & vegetables

Other immune boosters include:

Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal and increases immune function. It’s also a good source of selenium, an important trace element, and sulfur, which is important for healthy liver function.

Onions are also a good source of sulfur and contain the same properties as garlic.

Shiitake and maitake mushrooms increase the body’s production of white blood cells, which are part of the immune system.

Ginger helps the body fight off infection and has traditionally been used in treating colds and flu.

Turmeric enhances the immune system and has a detoxifying effect.

Horseradish contains oils that have demonstrated antibiotic properties and has been effective against infections.

#6 Drink Plenty of Fluids

Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Also, water flushes your system by helping to wash out toxins as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs roughly eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day or you can use the following formulas to estimate fluid requirement in ounces and cups per day:

0.5 x Body Weight in Pounds = Daily Fluid Requirement in ounces

Daily Fluid Requirement in ounces/8 = Daily Fluid Requirement in cups

 How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you are already dehydrated and need more fluids.

#5 Rest, Relax and Exercise

Daily, get plenty of rest as well as moderate aerobic exercise to maintain good health and defenses against viral invaders.  If you are having trouble sleeping, see my tips and/or come in to see me.

If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. There's evidence that when you relax, your interleukins, leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses, increase in the bloodstream. Keep in mind that relaxation is a form of self therapy and must be done on a regular basis to achieve desired results.  Relaxation is not doing nothing. People who try to relax, but are in fact bored, show no beneficial changes in blood chemistry.

Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to improve blood circulation and respiration; making you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and making you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.

And In General…..

• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

• If you are sick with flu–like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)

• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them

• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.