Prevention Tips.

With the H1N1 flu scare, I've been looking for ways to "naturally" help my family fight it off. Obviously, modern medicine is around for a reason...but I feel like the natural and herbal side added to it can only keep us on the right path.

Which is why I was so ecstatic to get an email from a friend in Primary with this helpful advice:

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

#1. Frequent hand washing (who else's hands are raw from washing so much, lol...I was gifted the pumpkin scent from Bath & Body Works...totally makes me want to eat my hands, so worth the constant hand washing to smell that!).

#2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

#3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. 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 o ne. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

# 4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once everyday with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti ( "Neti pots" or very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with Q-tips dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

#5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

#6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, HOT CHOCOLATE, 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. (You could also do like James' Aunt Becky and drink hot water...her way of not drinking hot tea, lol.)

This information is from Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Cent re, Malad (W).

Obviously....this is taken from an email, and you never know about the information that is sent (unless you check Snopes.com religiously). And obviously, I'm not a nurse...we aren't allowed to give medical advice in the massage therapy field Ü. But logically, all those suggestions make sense, especially the "clearing out of the nose"...I was spray painting with black this past weekend and sneezed later on that day and my booegers were BLACK...I don't really want to know whats stuck in my nose!! Hopefully little tidbits like these can keep us a little less sick this season.

pro⋅lif⋅er⋅ate:
–verb (used without object), verb (used with object), -at⋅ed, -at⋅ing.
1. to grow or produce by multiplication of parts, as in budding or cell division, or by procreation.
2. to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively.