Protecting Yourself from Germs

I'll admit it, I'm a germ freak--I cringe when I see someone leave the bathroom without washing their hands or touch a countertop and then bite their nails, or kids crawling on the floor in public places. BUT there comes a time when my craziness is a necessity and that is when there is a

pandemic outbreak. First I'll cover typical winter season precautions and then go a little more extreme during a pandemic. This isn't covering supplements, just when we are out in public and what to do when we get home. You can click here for specifics on supplements and preparation for pandemics like Coronavirus. Here we go!

Typical Winter Season

• Supplements are vital for boosting our immune system. Please read here for my favorite and reasonably priced ways to boost the immune system.

• Wash your hands and wash them often. It doesn't have to be antibacterial soap, but you do need to actively wash for 30 seconds. Change hand towels in your bathroom daily if you can. If you don't have a place to wash, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Alcohol based kills an array of germs slightly better than benzoyl chloride. I like 365 alcohol sanitizer spray and wipes at Whole Foods or this one by Honest. The spray is nice because it doesn't slide off little kids hands like the gel. We actually use hand wipes and then spray. I spray our hands anytime I am done being at a store, once we get in the car, before we eat, basically anytime we're done touching anything! I know, I'm a little excessive. If someone touches a countertop, they get their hands sprayed--because sure enough if I don't spray, their hands go straight in their mouth and my anxiety shoots through the roof.

• Nothing Above the Shoulders-Keep your hands off your face, nose, mouth, lips, and ears while touching items in public--and teach your kids young.

• Sick People- Stay away from people that are ill. It's been said that a sneeze can travel up to 26 feet and a cough can travel up to 19 feet. I've gotten to the point that I ask friends if their kids have sniffles before play dates.

• Doctors/Nurses-It's OK to ask the nurses and doctors to wash their hands before they touch you and your kids! They are trained to do this and should do it!

• Hospitals/clinics-Stay away from clinics and hospitals if at all possible. I've made it so all my kids get their annual exams during the summer each month. Walking into a doctors office or hospital in the winter is like walking into a contaminated petri dish.

• Public Bathrooms- Avoid them if you can! Obviously sometimes nature calls, but germs are everywhere from coughing, blowing noses, and flushing contaminated feces--toilets spray when they flush. It's been said to use paper towels over the dryers and use a paper towel to open the door on the way out!

• When we get home, our shoes always immediately come off at the door. When my kids get home from school, they immediately know they have to get in the shower. This was a recommendation from my doctor year ago and it makes perfect sense to me! Kids pick up so much from school. You can nebulize colloidal silver to kill the viruses and bacteria.

• Sanitize- I spray down their shoes and other hard surfaces in our home every so often with this Seventh Generation Disinfectant Spray . I also use their wipes in our home on door knobs and light switches often. Another two cleaning products I use around the house to kill germs are hydrogen peroxide spray and it has just been approved as cleaner for COVID-19. Peroxide is a good alternative to bleach and just as effective. Blog post on hydrogen peroxide.

If you are ill:

• Depending in the virus/bacteria, we are typically contagious one day before symptoms begin and contagious for a few days to weeks after our symptoms begin to disappear (again depending on the type of virus/bacteria).

• Stay home whenever possible, so not to transmit the illness. Every time we cough or sneeze that's transmitted into the air and sometimes the droplets can last in the air for hours. Every time we cough in our hand or wipe our nose with the back of our hand and then touch something, the bacteria/viruses stay on the surface for hours or days, depending on the germ. I know we need to work to get paid, but I also feel it's irresponsible to go to work knowing we have a fever and we will get other people sick. Same goes for kids, if my kids have a fever, I do not pop them a Motrin and send them off to school.

• Cough and sneeze into your elbow

• Wear a surgical face mask, if you know you're actively contagious.

If an Pandemic Outbreak Occurs in Town

• Use all of the (craziness) above plus:

• Be extra vigilant... take all of the above to the extreme.

• Going into Town. If there is an active outbreak in our town, we will wear N99/N95 rated masks, protective goggle, and gloves when we go into town. Change gloves before getting back into car and wash hands often. We have RZMasks and you can get 15% off with RZAIR.

• Before entering our home, we will go into the garage, remove our outer clothes and shoes, spray us all down with peroxide.

• Washing Clothes- Clothes will immediately be washed in hot water with 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide and dried on high.

• Best way to take off contaminated clothes and shoes: Place gloves on, grab one shoe from the heel, slip foot out and step onto area where shoes have never been on. Remove the remaining shoe the same way.If you step in an area where your shoes stepped, you've just stepped into contaminants. Appropriately remove gloves, place on a new pair of gloves and remove clothes inside our, being careful to not allow the outside of the shirt to brush over the face. Place all clothes in a plastic bag. Take one sock off and step into the house, reach down and take the other sock off before stepping into the home. Take bag of clothes to wash, throw bag away. Wash hands, then take shower.

Please share with your loved ones, if you feel called to do so <3