Put WHAT up my nose?
Question: I catch colds and the flu every winter. Besides shots and healthy eating, is there anything more that I can do to stay well?
Mimi: Please read past columns on general good health and avoiding the flu. If you are ready for the goopy and gross recommendations, here they come.
The flu and cold germs are all around us. We want to prevent their proliferation. While you are still healthy, prevention is in order. The only portals of entry of the germs are the nose, mouth, and throat. So, practice frequent hand washing and avoid touching your face, especially eyes, nose, and mouth.
Gargle twice a day with warm salt water. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one.
Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. If you don’t have or like a Neti Pot, just put warm salt water in your cupped hand or in a cup and inhale it. I use distilled water because I don’t like the feel of chlorine. The first several times that you sniff up warm salt water you will feel like gagging. It will remind you of your first high dive into a swimming pool. Your sinus cavities will sting. Once you get used to it, it isn’t so bad. If you do the sniffing and snorting in the shower, you can blow out all the mucus in the shower and not onto the bathroom mirror.
If sniffing up warm salt water is beyond you, swab out your nostrils with warm water twice a day and blow your nose hard to blow out mucus. This brings down the viral population.
At night after sniffing up warm salt water, put Vaseline on a cotton swab or on your finger and apply to the inside of your nostrils. It will help keep the delicate skin inside your nose from drying and cracking and making places for germs to get in. Apply Vaseline outside of your nostrils to help trap dust and allergens. Apply Vaseline or lip balm to your lips at night before bed.
If you have dry eyes and tend to touch them, use lubricating eye drops often. Do not use drops designed for allergies or red eyes. Read the label. At night after removing eye make-up and cleaning your face, you can rub Vaseline around your eyes to ease the discomfort of itchy eyes. There are expensive eye ointments for itchy eyes. Read the label—it’s just petrolatum which is petroleum jelly, AKA Vaseline.
If your skin, eyes, lips, or nose feel dry during the winter, use a vaporizer in your bedroom at night, and turn down the thermostat. Clean the vaporizer with chlorine bleach or vinegar and rinse well. A vaporizer or humidifier can harbor mold.
Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C, Zinc, and Vitamin D. Get enough sunlight and sleep. Drink as much warm liquids 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.
Mimi Barre is the owner of International Day Spa, 325 Cajon St., Redlands.
Send your skin care questions to her at MimiB@INTLdayspa.com. She and her estheticians are available for personal consultations. (909) 793-9080. Past columns of Ask Mimi are on the web at www.INTERNATIONALdayspa.com.
