Winter Wellness

16th July 2024 | Back to News

Practice Nurse Pawandeep 'Lucky' Kaur

With winter upon us we talk to nurse Pawandeep ‘Lucky’ Kaur about how we can stay well during the coldest months.

Stay warm

Viruses love the cold so it’s extremely important to stay warm. This means dressing for the weather. Layer up, with thermals and warm socks or tights and a decent winter coat or jacket.
I am always surprised at how people here don’t dress for the weather.
I am still seeing children heading to school in t-shirts and shorts and often open toe sandals.

A dry warm home makes such a difference too. If you are renting, your house should comply with the healthy homes standards and it is totally within your rights to ask about this if you don’t feel like the house meets these standards.

All viruses love the cold and grow in cold and damp conditions. Heat kills them so dress for the cold temperatures.

You are a target for viruses when you are cold. Everything shrinks so your lungs become constricted and the bugs love this and attack. Your immune response also goes down when you are cold.

Handwashing

It’s important we remember all of the good habits we got into during the pandemic like regular handwashing and using hand sanitizer.
Wear a mask if you are worried you might have a cold or virus that you could spread.
And maintaining social distance can also help prevent the spread of colds and flus.

Vaccinations

Get the flu jab I highly recommend getting a flu jab at your local pharmacy. They are free for people over 65, pregnant women and anyone with a pre-existing health condition like diabetes, asthma or cancer. Both of my girls had the flu vaccine last year and they’ve had it again this year. It makes me feel safe to send them to school as I know they are protected against influenza (the most serious flu virus) if there is an outbreak.

Remember you might still get a common cold but it will prevent the more serious flu virus.

Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
These are also available at the pharmacy at no cost. If you haven’t had COVID in the last six months go and get a booster. RAT tests are also free and can be collected from the pharmacy and also here at Three Rivers.

Stay home if you are unwell

It seems like a bit of a no-brainer but it’s important to stay at home when you are unwell and rest. A standard virus takes around seven days to work its way out of your system and tends to be worse on day three or four. You should start feeling steadily better after this.

Rather than masking your symptoms with cough medicine and other over-the- counter medicine, it is probably better to let the body fight the virus itself. While these medicines may bring temporary relief, they don’t get rid of the problem.

Remember that your cough and runny rose are part of your immune response. By coughing your body is trying to get that virus out forcefully – you stop that response by taking cough medicine. Coughing is your body trying to get the virus out before it goes down to your lungs. It is the same as a fever – by bringing your temperature up your body is trying to kill the virus. So it’s good to be hot – but not too hot.

If you are recovering from COVID it can take longer for your body to clear out the debris from the virus.

Drink plenty of water

It is important to stay well hydrated when you are sick. Your cells are working hard to get rid of the virus so keep your fluids up. Lemon and honey drinks can help – lemon is a great source of vitamin C and honey can sooth your throat.

Be prepared for any chills or ills

Make sure you have paracetamol at home and ibuprofen if you are able to take it. This treats inflammation but check first that it is safe for you.

Childhood vaccinations

We have had some positive cases of whooping cough recently so this is a good reminder to get up to date with your children’s vaccinations. Adults can also get immunized against measles.